I Promise
by Rehyou
Summary: Akari, a wanted traitor to the Fire Nation, finds herself thrown into a war she never wanted any part in. When captured by Prince Zuko, the two are forced to make promises, heal scars, follow destiny, and maybe even save the world. Zuko & OC
1. Chapter 1 Freedom

I Promise

By Rehyou

Rated: T (Just incase)  
Summary: Akari, a wanted traitor to the Fire Nation, finds herself thrown into a war she never wanted any part in. When captured by Prince Zuko, the two are forced to make promises, heal scars, follow destiny, and maybe even save the world.  
Status: In Progress

* * *

**Hello there**.

Welcome to my first fan fiction. So first of all, what I hope to accomplish with this is to explore different aspects of avatar. I want to know what its like to be thrown into war. I want to explore how it messes with my character's head. I want to see a different side of the other characters. Also, even if it is quite selfish of me, I want Zuko to end up with someone better. I like Mai. She's great. But Zuko is hands down my favorite character. I like him because he is complicated, he makes mistakes, and he overcomes failure. Also, out of all the characters, he changes the most. After all that struggle, I think he deserves someone with a little more passion and someone who relies on him just as much as he relies on her.

That is just my opinion. You can take it or leave it. If you don't like it, that's fine. Read the story for the mystery of unraveling her past.

This chapter is short and a little slow. Please forgive me. It is just setting up the stage, I swear. ;D I truly hope you enjoy it as much as I love writting it. _Please read and review_; it means the world to me. So get comfy and start reading. :3

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA. :'(

Love you all,

~Rehyou

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Freedom

The sense of freedom the girl had was intoxicating, indescribable, and completely overwhelming. It was like her mind was on sensory over-load. She could feel the sun beating down over every inch of her face. The bangs that fell into her vision were so clear it hurt to look at them. Don't even get her started on her hair—the light brown locks that had been tied into a bun for over two years to disguise its length felt strange in the loose ponytail that hit well past her shoulder blades. The sore pain that ricocheted throughout her body was excruciatingly vivid. _For what it's worth, I thought it would be worse—considering the past few years._

For two years freedom was all she had ever wanted. Now that she had it, Akari had no idea what to do with it.

It was like an extra weight on her. Actually, that weight came from the few fruits and a small bag of coins in her pockets that she had snatched off a fire nation soldier that had been browsing the outdoor market. They could be so oblivious sometimes. But Akari had other worries. When first coming to this Earth Kingdom village, she had been worried about sticking out like a sore thumb in her fire nation clothes. But as it turns out, this town decided to actually give into the Fire Nations demands. So there she was, lost in a sea of green and red.

But she had nowhere to go. All her life, her purpose had been driven towards leaving the Fire Nation. It had taken sixteen years, and now that she had, Akari realized that she wanted more than this. She was not meant to be some nobody. She couldn't be happy in a simple life of peace and prosperity until she figured out what path Destiny was leading her down. Akari continued walking, pondering the meaning of life, all that good stuff; completely distracted.

That was when she smacked into somebody. Caught off guard, Akari tumbled to the ground, the contents of her pockets spilling out. Streams of curses were muttered under her breath. She inwardly scolded herself for not paying attention. Who knows what kind of people were crawling around this town.

"Hey watch where you are go-" the soldier trailed off. Akari glanced up at him, pushing her bangs to the side. Immediately she recognized him as the owner of the small black coin bag that she was currently stuffing back in her pockets.

"Shit," Akari muttered as she picked herself up off the ground and sprinted in the other direction. The soldier's cries for backup rang down the sea-side market. Suddenly, two extremely buff men appeared in front of her, huge hands snatching at her. Reflex kicked in as Akari dropped to the ground. She spun her legs around her, kicking the men's feet out from under them.

Akari jumped over their bodies and continued down the boardwalk. Boats flashed by on one side while shops blurred on the other. Much to her dismay, there was no crowd to hide of her. Three more men appeared out of nowhere. Spinning on her heel, Akari attempted to sprint down a side street when more soldiers emerged from there. She backed up now, walking. Every ounce of her body was screaming at her to bend, to bring the fire to her fingertips—but she couldn't risk blowing her cover.

Completely surrounded by 15 soldiers, Akari put her back to a metal boat. She would fight them, and if she got caught, that was no big deal. Akari was a prison expert. _They are just local security. _Akari told herself. _How bad can it be?_

_"_That brat is a thief!" A man shouted. Akari assumed it was the one who had gotten robbed. How could she help herself? His coin bag was practically dangling out of his pocket. Any other poor kid could have snatched it. It just had to be her.

"You got robbed by a girl?" One of the nearby soldiers asked, practically giggling.

Akari heard a thud and the girly laughter silenced.

They all took one step in, closing the semi-circle in even more. Akari took a deep breath. She had this. She had dealt with more, better opponents. But her body argued, her back burned as it often did in stressful situations. Every movement was dully protested. She scowled, trying to tell her body this was controllable. Or maybe...

It wasn't necessary her style but she could run. High-tail it out of that place and dive into the water. Swimming would be a great way to escape; she had witnessed its success first hand long ago. Akari inched back slowly, every muscle in her body preparing to spin around and jump—when suddenly, a voice stopped her.

"What is going on here?" the voice demanded. Akari whirled around, realizing that the voice was coming from the boat behind her. The speaker walked off the ship, dressed casually. Unlike many of the soldiers surrounding her, he was only masked by the scar that covered the left side of his face. His hair tied tightly on the top of his head made the rest of his features look even more severe. She met the intense gaze of his golden eyes with her own green-flecked brown ones, hit with a horrified realization.

_Bad. Very bad._


	2. Chapter 2 Home Again

**Hullo again. ^^**

Well, I feel terrible leaving you all with so little as a first chapter, so here is the second one.  
As always, please review. I will luff you forever.

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA. If I did, I pigs would be flying and clouds would be made of cotton candy.

Thank you for sticking with me. ;D Love you all.

~Rehyou

P.S. New Avatar season? AHHHHHHHHHH! I hope it is fantabulous.

* * *

Home Again

She recognized him instantly. It was in the way he carried himself, in the way he looked down at all of them, and in his scar. She had stolen from one of the soldiers who worked for none other than the banished Prince Zuko. He stood on his ship, staring down each and every one of them.

"Well?" Zuko demanded. Akari swore all of the soldiers winced. "Is somebody going to answer me?"

The victim of her crime stumbled forward. "S—she stole from m—me," he stammered, bowing deeply several times.

The prince raised his single eyebrow. He seemed amused. "She," Zuko said, pointing a finger at her. "stole from you?" The man just nodded fervently in reply. Zuko cocked his head slightly, studying her intensely. Akari shifted nervously under his gaze. It felt like he was trying to melt her with his mind or something. Suddenly, his golden eyes lit up. What with she wasn't sure. It seemed like he remembered something…

That is when they attacked. It was a low move, even for this bunch. A punch connected squarely with her jaw, knocking her off balance. Stars momentarily crossed her vision, sending her into a galaxy all her own. The starry vision was quickly replaced by adrenaline.

Her sight returned right as another man was barreling towards her. Akari dropped to the ground letting him trip over her body. Without hesitating she rolled back on to her feet, sidestepping just in time to let two soldiers crash into each other. She dodged their blows one after another, focusing on being light on her feet. They eventually picked up on her evasion game, each dodge bringing her tiny bit closer to the water.

She decided to shake things up a bit. Akari didn't want them to get _too _comfortable. So it took the next man by surprise when her fist smashed into his face. Akari heard the satisfied pop of what she assumed was his nose breaking. A small sense of pride might have rushed into her if there hadn't been _so many of them_. It seemed like every time she managed to hurt one, another took his place.

Akari was frustrated with herself. If she wasn't so sore and she gave in to her bending, this wouldn't even be a challenge. But here she was, struggling to fend off several full grown men and her desire to let the fire fly from her fingers all at once. The ocean was tantalizingly close. She could smell the fishy salt and feel its cool breeze ghosting across her face. A new plan quickly formed in her mind. She would knee the next guy, and then make a break for it. It was reckless. It was stupid. But it was all she had. She was just about to send her knee into the gut of the closest man, when an iron grip clutched onto her left shoulder.

Akari withered to the ground in pain, a small yelp escaping her mouth. The hand was digging into the scar that covered the majority of her left shoulder and the left-half of her back. Normally, it was a dulled ache, but now her muscles felt like they were on fire. The pain seared across her vision, turning everything red. Akari opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Or if it did, she couldn't hear it.

Suddenly the grip was gone and replaced with a new one. Meaty hands twisted her arms behind her back and held them in place. With a rough tug, she was brought to her knees. Akari clutched her eyes shut, waiting for the world to make sense again. The pain died down to a barely tolerable level. Akari opened her eyes, wishing that they had decided to just toss her in the water. She wasn't that lucky.

The young prince was sitting on his heels in front of her. His eyes bore into hers. It looked like they were searching for something. Akari decided that he was the one who had dug his grabby little fingers into her back. Sure it wasn't exactly fair to peg him as that person. But considering the circumstances, Akari decided she didn't care. She just glared back, refusing to look away.

"Who are you?" It came out more as a command than a question.

Akari spit in his face.

He growled, rubbing a hand down his face in attempt to clean it. She watched as his hand clutched into fists. _Temper, temper_, Akari thought to herself smugly. Then she realized that her own nails were digging into her palms as well. After what seemed to be an eternity, the prince broke the stare. Akari felt a small rush of victory. It was short lived.

"Bring her in."

Akari was dragged forcefully into room. In the middle of the room there was a wall of iron polls that almost reached the ceiling—successfully splitting the room into a visitor area and a cell. She was thrown through the cell door, her arms still chained behind her back. There were two chairs in the area outside her cell. Torches lined the wall to make up for the minimal amount of sunlight that crept through. Besides that, there was just a lonely cot in her cell.

Akari barely had time to situate herself on the thin cot when a bigger old man and a haughty looking prince came into the room. She eyed the two, trying to guess the reason for the prince's smug mood. When Akari said nothing, the man, which she recognized to be the great General Iroh, coughed.

"Child, we mean you no harm." Akari laughed. Iroh continued, ignoring the interruption. Zuko just looked flat-out annoyed. "All we want are some answers. If you agree to comply—"

"Does this look familiar?" Zuko smirked, unrolling a scroll in his hand. He stepped in front of his uncle, holding out the scroll close to her cell so she could see. It was a wanted poster; of her. Akari struggled to keep her composure. That was what had lit up his eyes. He had recognized her.

The drawing looked almost exactly like her face. Except the nose was off and her hair was in a bun. She was pretty sure her eyes were not _that_ brown. Overall, she decided it was a horrible portrayal of her. Zuko tore it away from her gaze, shifting into better light as he began to read. It said:

_WANTED: MOST POWERFUL FIRE BENDER_

_Young girl, approximately 16, escaped from high security Fire Nation prison in early fall. She was last seen with shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, and fire nation garments. She most likely has a distinct scar on her shoulder. Be careful if contacting; she is reckless and unpredictable. She is wanted for treason, trespassing, and mass destruction of Fire Nation property. Any information should be sent directly to Fire Lord Ozai. _

_REWARDS FOR INFORMATION OR THE CAPTURE OF AKARI (ALIVE)_

Akari swallowed the lump in her throat as Zuko read the poster. She also noticed how his voice caught when he said the Fire Lord's name. Well they had at least two things in common now; a scar and a hatred for the oh-so-brilliant Fire Lord. Akari decided the poster could have been much worse. At least her hair reached the middle of her back now.

"So," Zuko said with a smirk on his face, "what is your name?" Akari chose not to reply. Zuko smiled, deciding that her silence meant the girl described on the poster was her. Anger was building in Akari, her fists trembled behind her back. She dug her nails into her palms in an attempt to pacify her rage.

"That doesn't mean anything!" Akari exclaimed, exasperated. "A lot of girls have that name. Besides," Akari said, this time a smirk taking over her features. "I can't fire bend." Akari propped herself up on the balls of her feet, leaning against the wall, her face smug, hoping her bluff would work.

Zuko opened his mouth then closed it again. He couldn't think of anything to say to that.

"I am flattered though, really. I mean, you think I'm so intimidating that I could be the most powerful fire bender in the world? Thanks, you're the best," Akari taunted, rolling her eyes.

The eye roll did it. Zuko's smile faltered as he scrambled to roll up the scroll. "UGHH!" he shouted, "You are impossible!" Zuko spun around heading towards the door. Just as he was reaching for the handle, Zuko turned around sending a blast of fire in her direction.

Akari kicked her legs out from under her, flattening herself against the cot. She felt the rush of heat pass inches above her head. She sat up slowly, looking from the outraged uncle to Zuko's wide-eyed stare. With a sudden movement he left, slamming the door shut.

Still a bit shaken, Akari was surprised when Iroh bowed slightly in front of her.

"I apologize for my nephew's behavior. Prince Zuko can be quite irrational when things do not go his way." She hadn't noticed it before, but he set down the tray of food he was carrying with him into her cell. "He is not the same boy as he used to be. I believe the world has taken its toll on him." Iroh looked off into space. She imagined he was looking back to a different time, starring a prince the world has not seen in a long time. Akari waited patiently.

"Ah, forgive me. It is quite rude for me to burden you with my thoughts. Please eat. Your body is weak and could use the energy," Iroh gestured to the tray. It carried a small bowl of water, some bread, and a cup of soup. Akari found she desperately wanted to trust this man, but she just gave him a nod before he left her.

She knew she was not going to eat her food. The defiance in her wouldn't allow it. Instead she leaned her head against the cool wall after she kicked the tray out of reach, easily falling back into her routine. Her eyes felt heavy, and even though she tried, they eventually shut. The metal wall was cold and unrelenting against her head. At least she knew what she was doing. At least she could make sense of this.

_Home sweet home_, was Akari's last thought as she drifted into sleep.


	3. Chapter 3 Purpose

**Hi there. ^^**

Welcome to the longest chapter so far! *confetti*

Note: File away the piece about her empty necklace. It will be mentioned frequently.  
Review if you have the time. I would love you forever. Pleaseandthankyou. ;D

DISCLAIMER: I do not own A:TLA. Not yet anyway. I just have to wait for my master plan to set in. MUHAHAHA.

Love you all and thank you for reading. Enjoy Chapter 3.

~Rehyou

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Purpose

When she eased back into conciseness, the ship was in motion. She could hear the engines churning and the water breaking as it passed through the waves. By the small amount of sunlight that streamed through the window, Akari guessed it was about early afternoon. There were loud birds squawking. Their chaotic cries echoed throughout the boat. Her mind was still half asleep and the loud noises were making her head hurt. She mumbled a half-hearted command for the birds to shut up. With a start Akari realized that the birds were actually the crew. They were running all around the boat and shouting orders, their boots clanking loudly on the boat's metal floors.

She closed her eyes, listening intently in an attempt to understand what was going on. Most of the sentences were muffled or shouted so loudly her ears couldn't make sense of them. Two sentences came out a tiny bit clearer than all the others.

They went like this:

"_Blah blah blah, mumble mumble. _Avatar,_ blah blah…"_

"_Yada yada yada, _Kyoshi Island_, jib jab…"_

With her amazing powers of perception, Akari gathered that the Avatar was on Kyoshi Island.

Then, two things happened almost at once. The boat stopped, and everything became very quiet. They must have left, she decided. Her ability to put two and two together was astounding.

Taking a deep breath, Akari let herself feel the leather chord that hung around her neck. It once held something from her father, but it had been used in a time of need. Now, with her hands tied, she just felt its light pressure as it rose and fell with her breathing. In that moment, Akari had some kind of an epiphany; though she was pretty sure it was on a much smaller scale than the ones great people of history are written to have had.

The Avatar, the one person who could stop this war, was on the island. She never wanted to be a part of the war, but she had been thrust into it from an early age. That was the plain truth. It hurt families, hers included. Nobody was spared. It was something cancerous. It destroyed everyone, including the people who started it. Even if Zuko didn't realize it, the war was probably a huge factor in whatever family troubles he had experienced. So Akari decided she was going to do whatever it took to end it—starting with saving the world's only hope.

Akari stood up, facing her back to the cell wall. With surge of power (plus a bit of leverage from the fire that spurred her on from her feet), Akari was able to grab onto the top of the wall. She flung herself over the small space between the top of the bars and the ceiling, landing in a heap on the ground.

A bit of pride rushed through her. Akari shook it out of her mind; she had no time for this. Shoving open the door, she scared the guard. "Damn," she muttered. "I should've thought of that." Of course they wouldn't leave her alone. Even Bitter-boy wasn't that stupid. Regaining her composure, Akari rushed over, kneeing him in the gut. Quickly she turned and sawed through the thin chains with the sharp point of his helmet. Shoving the man into the wall, she continued off the boat uninterrupted and followed the trail to the village.

The fight was in full force when she arrived. Akari staggered back a step, unsure how to proceed. Soldiers were battling with…girls? Normally she would have taken the time to be impressed and to maybe even point and laugh as the burly men of the Fire Nation got their asses handed to them. But not now, she was too busy failing to come up with a plan.

Suddenly Zuko rushed across her vision, charging towards a small boy. He wore orange garments. If it wasn't for the slices of air he was firing as needed, the blue arrow that ended at a point on his forehead sure gave him away. It was the Avatar. _Let's start with that, _Akari decided.

The passion built within her. She became acutely aware of the sun beating down on her face and the fire begging to be set free. Akari took a giant leap forward, a twisting tunnel of fire hurtling towards Zuko. It missed him by inches, but got his attention. Actually, it got everybody's attention. All the guards, even the Avatar, were staring at her. _Well there goes the whole '"I'm not a fire bender" cover, _Akari thought grimly. She obviously hadn't thought this through. Taking advantage of everyone's dropped jaws, Akari began her dance. She blasted fire, ducked under blows, kicked fire out of her heels, and twisted and moved with a grace that can only be obtained after years and years of practice.

A braver man attacked her head on, she sidestepped, but she felt the fire creep across the clothing on her left shoulder. Enraged, Akari began building a wall of fire in front of her. With a thrust of her hands, it barreled towards the soldiers, buying the Avatar and crew a nice chunk of time. The men would be disoriented at the least. The Avatar had to get away _now_.

She saw the Avatar run to his bison and another girl begin to climb it as well. Relief washed over her. She was wondering why they hadn't left, when her answer came tumbling in her direction. Another boy came flailing towards her, obviously trying to join the Avatar. She laughed out loud when she realized he was wearing the same dress as the girl warriors. Her laughter was cut off by the sight of a soldier rushing after him. She punched the air, powerful flames shooting down the soldier chasing him, ridding the boy of his pursuer. Exertion was beginning to wear her down, her breathing was becoming ragged. Akari was just about to start failing to come up with another plan when, to her surprise, the cross-dresser stopped next to her.

The boy's expression looked surprised, his eyebrows nearly jumping of his face they were raised so high. She figured he didn't expect the help of a fire bender. She couldn't blame him. After eyeing her for a quick moment, his face became determined, as if he had come to a decision. "Come with us," he pleaded, stretching out a hand to her.

Akari's mind reeled. Join the Avatar? Just the thought of that possibility was enough to make her dizzy. His story was going to go down in history. Everyone would know her. Stories would be passed on from generation to generation. She did not need the publicity. Besides, she had to make sure Zuko didn't catch them. It would be easier to follow his actions if she was with him. That was her quiet, humble part in this war. She shook her head. "You have to go." Akari said softly, offering a small smile. The soldiers were re-grouping, and what's worse is that Zuko was nowhere in sight. A blast of fire erupted at their feet. "NOW!" Akari commanded, giving the boy a small shove.

He looked at her uncertainly, scratching his back with a boomerang, brow furrowed. "We will come back for you one day," he promised before dashing off to the bison. With a comic scramble, he made it to the top and the creature took off.

Akari watched as they flew into the distance, hoping she had made the right decision.

Then suddenly, somebody rammed into Akari from behind. She felt arms wrap tightly around her hips, pinning her arms to her side as they tumbled to the ground. As she lay motionless on the ground, Akari realized her tackler was Zuko. She could feel every inch of his warm body pressed against hers. She was acutely aware of his arms wrapped tightly around her. She could feel his breath brushing against her ear. Thank Agni he couldn't see her face; it was probably as red as the clothes on her back. Despite that, it was like the freedom she had felt not so long ago; intoxicating, indescribable, and over-whelming. She didn't want to lose that feeling.

"Not a fire bender, huh?" Zuko muttered the words close to her ear. She felt the pressure of his body leave hers as he pulled her up on her feet. She stood unsteadily. Akari guessed she wasn't as recovered as she thought. Suddenly, Zuko's grip whirled her around to face him.

"What is that?" Zuko demanded. His voice quivered with rage and his eyes pierced hers. Akari had no idea what this boy was talking about. Incredulous and not amused, she searched the surroundings in a poor attempt to find anything out of the ordinary. There were some houses on fire, warrior girls scrambling to put out the flames, and a giant statue of some lady—nothing too unusual. What did he mean? All that smoke must be going to his head.

Unless…

Akari now felt the small breeze hitting her bare left shoulder through torn clothing—her scar.

"Who did that to you?" Zuko demanded. She must have looked horrified because the prince tried to compose himself. "Who burned you?" Zuko repeated, struggling to soften his voice.

"Nothing. Nobody. I—I don't know!" Akari shouted, her thoughts sent into turmoil by his prying questions.

She tore her arms free of his grip and tried to take a defiant step in the other direction. Her knees buckled underneath her and the ground came rushing up to meet her. Suddenly, she was in Zuko's arms. He had caught her at the last moment. Akari clamped her eyes shut, ashamed at her weakness as he pulled her arm over his shoulder and wrapped his around her waist.

This Fire Nation prince was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

"I won't let you fall," Zuko muttered, tightening his arm around her waist, letting her weight lean into his side. Akari leaned into him, deciding not to question his newfound compassion. She was just pleased that he wasn't questioning her further and, unsettlingly, that the warmth of his body was pressed against hers. The two continued at an agonizingly slow pace back to the ship as Zuko waved the guards to go on without them.

The silence was nice. Not one of those awkward silences. Zuko seemed to be deep in thought. Akari was just focused on trying to walk. Even with Zuko basically holding all of her weight, Akari was still struggling to keep her legs moving. _Left, right. Left, right. Left, right._

Akari's mental chant was interrupted.

"Your scar," Zuko began. Akari sighed deeply in response, earning a small chuckle from Zuko.

"What about it?" Akari snapped, not in the mood to listen to his questions.

"Nothing," Zuko said almost defensively. He paused, shifting her arm that lay across his shoulder. Thankfully, the movement straightened her up and made walking a smidgen easier. "It just…explains a lot about you."

"Yeah, yeah. So now I am officially Akari, wanted traitor of the Fire Nation. The scar sealed the deal. I get it," Akari mumbled. In the back of her mind she wondered what was going to happen. Most likely they would race home to the Fire Nation and turn her in. She wasn't any Avatar, but she would be a nice bonus.

"You said it not me," the prince rasped. "But that's not what I meant."

She had to admit, he had caught her curiosity. Akari didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.

"It's just…when most people look at me all they see is my scar, the mark of the banished prince. Or even if they don't know who I am, it's like my scar is all they see," Zuko spoke slowly, trying to convert his feelings into words. His voice was a mix of anger and shame. "They all just stare, like who I am is defined by that scar."

Zuko paused, stopping their walk. His free hand was touching his scar and his mind seemed to be in memories that Akari guessed she would never know. Then a small smile tugged at his lips and he turned to look at her.

"But not you," Zuko stated simply. "You don't stare at my scar or look away because you are embarrassed. I feel like you actually _see_ me. And now I know why. It's because you know what it's like."

Akari wasn't quite sure what to say. She hadn't realized that simply looking him in the eye made such a profound impact on him. Yet, Akari realized it was true. When she did look at him, she didn't really notice the scar. Well, she was aware it was there, but it was just a part of him. Not the banished prince of the Fire Nation. Just Zuko.

"I can cover mine up though," she pointed out.

"I don't think that matters. It's still there, and you still know what it is like to be scarred by your past," Zuko retaliated. His voice sounded stronger, more sure of himself.

Yes, if anything that was true. She knew what it was like to be reminded of your history with a single look. Technically, Akari didn't even have to look. It was like its own little heart beat. She supposed it was because it never healed properly. The burn probably hurt more than just her skin. The muscles in her back and shoulder were most likely damaged. Absently she wondered if his scar hurt him. As her thoughts trailed off, Zuko spoke again.

"Sorry, that was stupid," he muttered.

"No," Akari turned her head to look up at him. The simple gesture brought a smile to his face. She realized for the first time how nice his smile really was. She quickly shoved those thoughts away. "It was true."

Akari felt his arm tighten around her waist as they started their slow pace back to the boat once more.


	4. Chapter 4 Not My Cup of Tea

**Hi everybody! **

Thank you so much for the reviews. :) They make me feel much better.  
This chapter is not particularly long, but a little piece of Akari's past is revealed. So go ahead and read!  
Please review if you have the time, tell your friends, all that good stuff. ;D

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA. *tear*

Love you all and please enjoy.

~Rehyou

* * *

Not My Cup of Tea

Time seemed to fly. It didn't at first. It took Akari a few days to recover after Kyoshi Island. Once her body felt back to its usual dull aches, Akari's mind couldn't handle it. She was flat-out bored. Besides, she was determined not to be shamed once more by her weaknesses—especially in front of Zuko. So she took to exercising. The small cell made it hard for her to perform any fire bending forms, so she mostly stuck with fitness. She would do pushups, sit ups, use the cell's wall to do chin ups—anything to keep her doing _something_. Akari wasn't going to lie. The workouts _killed_. They made her shoulder and back burn like something crazy. She thought maybe exercise would make the constant dull ache throughout her body fade; that maybe she just needed to be stronger. But it didn't work. It was like her body was constantly operating on empty; no matter what she did it wouldn't refuel.

Akari had asked Iroh about it when he had walked in on one of her fitness sessions. He seemed just as perplexed as she did. To her dismay, he even relayed the situation to Zuko. The young prince was puzzled as well. In the end, Iroh decided that she needed some kind of "extreme release" where her body would realize that it could stop barely surviving and just rest; that there was no danger. Akari didn't think her body was that smart.

Either way, Zuko relentlessly continued his search—earning admiration from Akari in the process. They crossed the Avatar's path once or twice. Each time Akari managed to assist the Avatar in escape in some way or another. Fall was getting a little chillier; the first signs of winter became apparent. Eventually, the Avatar leads them back to the Fire Nation…

* * *

Tonight was the night of the solstice. Early in the morning, Zuko had decided to run the blockade (an idea she fully supported). His uncle had been frustrated with his nephew's choice. She had heard him pleading with Zuko, trying to get him to turn his ship around. Iroh's warning fell on deaf ears. Frustrated, Iroh decided to spend the day with her. Despite her best efforts, she found herself trusting the cheery old man.

_"That foolish boy," Iroh had walked into the room, grumbling. "Run the blockade of the very nation that banished you?" He continued his small rant, dragging a chair over by her cell, and collapsing in it. Akari just watched him, quiet amused._

_He quieted down, folding his hands across his stomach. Suddenly he turned to her. "You agree with him don't you?" It sounded more like a statement than a question._

_"Yes," Akari said thoughtfully._

_In response Iroh groaned and threw his hands into the air. "Why, might I ask?" He said incredulously, eyes peering curiously at her._

_Akari folded her arms across her chest. "Because it's something I would do," she said simply. Iroh opened his mouth to protest, but Akari stopped him, holding up her hands in surrender. "I know it is irrational. I realize it is stupid. I am sure it is most likely a trap. And he knows all of those things too. If the Avatar is something he wants, a goal I strongly disapprove of by the way, he has to work to get it. Life has never handed me all my wishes on a silver platter. Maybe it's the same way with him. Which is why, whenever opportunity presents itself, I chase after it, no matter how reckless it may be. That is why Zuko is doing what he is doing now."_

_Iroh considered her words for a long while. Akari felt self-conscience about her little speech, but there was a grain of truth in her words—even she could see that. After a few minutes—or was it hours? She couldn't tell—Iroh pushed himself up with a huff, declared he was going to get them tea and they were going to talk all day._

And they did just that. They talked of many things, some light, some political, some more personal. She shied away from most topics about family, content with listening to Iroh talk about his own son and even a bit about his niece and nephew. They could have been old friends sharing tea and stories if it weren't for the bars separating them.

Then a quiet silence that settled over them. Iroh sipped his tea, sighing contentedly. Akari looked out the small window, letting the soft sun bathe her face. The sun was almost beginning to set, making the world glow. She absentmindedly messaged her scarred shoulder, her torn shirt had recently been replaced with a new one, watching the dust flitter in the sun's light. She didn't feel Iroh's gaze study her.

_"I hope to hear your story someday," Iroh announced._

_Wincing slightly, Akari whirled her head around to look at him. She was so close to snapping, ready to let a few choice words fly at him. But his face was so serene and earnest that it surprised her. _

"_Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope you never do."_

_Iroh just chuckled in reply. They were quiet for a few more moments, but she watched him. She saw the questions forming on his lips before he ever uttered them. Akari sighed, preoccupying her mind with the dancing dust once more. She bit her lip in anticipation._

"_Akari," Iroh began. Being formally addressed caught her off guard. She blinked at him. "You might not want to answer, but I heard you have a scar."_

_"That's not a question," Akari interrupted, already not liking how this change in topic was going. Zuko was going to get it if he was blabbering about this to everyone on the ship. To think she had been beginning to trust him! She hadn't pegged him as a blabber mouth._

_"That wasn't my question," Iroh chuckled, patience filling his voice. "Not many people are so unfortunate to be scarred in such a way. Out of curiosity, I was wondering who it was that burned you?" Akari was expecting this question. She also had a pretty good idea about his motives._

_"He put you up to this didn't he? I can't believe—" Akari was cut off. _

"_No! No. It is simply to satisfy my curiosity, I promise. You are quite the mystery," Iroh smiled, his eyes searching hers as if the answer to her 'mystery' was in there somewhere._

_Akari's confidence faltered. A small part of her wanted to tell him. Hadn't she spent the whole day talking to him? Hadn't he told her of his dead son? He had given her no reason to distrust him, and quite a few reasons to give him a bit of hers. She felt her resolve slipping from her grasp as she took a deep breath. "I don't take promises lightly," Akari started, her tone solemn. "And I do have my reasons for not telling him. Despite what he, and possibly you, think, I am not just withholding the information to be difficult. I think if he knew…I just don't think it would help him in any way."_

_"I promise I won't tell," Iroh said. Akari read his expression. All of his features were serious, his mouth a tight line. She supposed he hadn't suspected she was protecting Zuko by not telling him. Akari bit her lip, bouncing her hands that were now shackled in front of her to make the chains jingle. She listened to their music, felt the leather chord around her neck, saw the dust flicker across her vision, and uttered the name of the man she hated almost as much as she hated herself._

"Fire Lord Ozai."

_Just then Zuko barged in. "Uncle! I have a plan to trick Zhao! I—what is going on?" Zuko noticed the expression in his uncle's eyes. Iroh looked quickly to Zuko, then back to her. The old man's eyes frightened her. They were so mixed with emotion; she found them to be unreadable. _

"_Uncle," Zuko repeated slowly, "what is going on?" Akari could tell he was struggling to stay in control. He didn't like being left in the dark. Apparently General Iroh could sense it too._

_Iroh stood up slowly, his eyes never leaving her. Akari bowed her head. Though she was looking at her hands, Akari could feel his gaze pounding down on her. "Nothing nephew. Come, tell me about this plan of yours," Iroh said, attempting to sound interested as he exited. He wasn't a very convincing actor._

_Zuko lingered. His hand was on the door. It seemed like half of him was trying to leave, the other begging him to stay. She lifted up her head and met his gaze. His eyes were melted honey, flashing as they searching hers. _

"_Akari…" Zuko said slowly. She thought she heard a hint of concern in his voice. Akari just shook her head in response, breaking his stare and leaning back against the metal wall. She closed her eyes, offering him no other answer. The prince left a few moments later._

_

* * *

_

That had been earlier in the day. Now Akari could see the sun setting in the window. It lit the world on fire. The memories of her past were rushing into her. They were always there, gnawing at the back of her consciousness. Now they were front and center. She wrestled with them until the fiery sky faded and left blackness littered with stars. Akari decided that was all fire left; an endless abyss of black. The negative thoughts were beginning to depress her. She tried to shove them away as she closed her eyes, her body now begging for sleep. Of course it had to torment her for a few hours before deciding it was tired. Her thoughts flickered to the Avatar. Somehow, she had this feeling he would be alright. Then she allowed herself to drift into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5 Riddle Me This

**Hello once again. (: **

I am putting this chapter up super quick, because it is short and more about fluffy relationship-building-ness.  
If that even makes any kind of sense.  
Again, thank you so much for the reviews, they mean to world to me.

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA. :(

Questions or comments about the characters, where the heck I'm going with this, anything, just click the little button at the bottom and make my day. ;D

Please enjoy.

~Rehyou

P.S. The next chapter is the longest yet. Get pumped.

* * *

Riddle Me This

_Fire was burning everywhere. It was like everywhere she turned flames were eating away at something. She punched out at an invisible enemy, but her fire would not come. She punched again, not believing that her bending would fail her now of all times. Her breathing was ragged as she stepped backwards. Then the Fire Lord appeared out of the flames. Pure terror consumed her body. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Suddenly, he charged toward her, arms outstretched. Just when she was almost in his clutches, she fell. _

Akari jolted awake. Her body was trembling and her hands felt numb. She felt like she was drenched in sweat. Wisps of her hair fell out of her ponytail, framing her face and adding to the overall crazy lady look. Akari wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling them to her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to push away the dream and all the memories it dragged in with it out of her head. Suddenly her door banged open.

Zuko rubbed his face; obviously he had just been sleeping. Absently she wondered if his plan had worked. By the look on his face, Akari guessed it hadn't. He had one hand clutched onto the door frame, like if he let go his body would tumble to the ground. "What is with all this noise?" Zuko demanded, his voice dripping with anger. Noise? She didn't know what he was talking about (what else was new?), but she assumed her dream had been a vocal one.

"Nothing, it was just a nightmare. Go back to bed," Akari said trying to sound bitter, but her voice was trembling. She scowled at her lap, mad that she couldn't even control her voice. Zuko's expression softened. He lit the torches on the wall with a few flicks of his wrist. To her surprise, he stumbled over to the bars, key in hand. He hesitated, then unlocked the door and slid in.

"Me too," Zuko mumbled. "The past doesn't like to leave me alone." His hand touched his scar. Akari didn't say anything. She really didn't have to. They both understood that particular situation perfectly. The peaceful silence was broken by his quick intake of breath. "Your hands! I'll be right back," he said before dashing out of the cell.

Akari lifted up her shackled hands. To her dismay, her knuckles were torn up, blood trickling down them. For a minute, she couldn't figure out for the life of her why they were like this. Then she realized she must have been punching the wall in her sleep. _Damn, those invisible enemies are good, _Akari thought grimly. She was still examining her hands when Zuko rushed back in carrying water, a rag, and some bandages.

He knelt down in front of her and gently took one of her hands in his. "This might hurt a little," Zuko apologized as he began to gently clean her hands of blood and torn skin. Akari wasn't worried about the pain, though she did wince when he started, earning some mumbled apologies from Zuko once more. She was too busy watching his face while he worked, trying to figure out how somebody could be so hardened by war, yet so compassionate and kind. It would baffle most people.

But she understood. It all made perfect sense to her. Akari was the same way. Zuko looked up for a moment, done cleaning her wounds. Apparently her face must have looked a bit shocked, because Zuko dropped her hands quickly, and to her dismay blushed slightly. "Sorry! I didn't…I mean I—I…" Zuko babbled.

"Don't apologize," Akari started, amused at his frantic look. "It's just…I understand." Akari's brow furrowed, not knowing how she was going to wiggle her way out of explaining this one. She hated how he made her blurt out things she didn't want to say. Now she was going have to tell him and most definitely look like a complete idiot.

"Understand what?" Zuko asked, his voice mixed with confusion and curiosity.

"You…me…us," Akari mumbled, the words sounding wrong to her. Zuko raised one eyebrow while she squirmed, a small blush creeping into her cheeks. Now it was her turn to suffer. "That's not what I meant!" Akari all but shouted. Akari groaned inwardly. How was she going to dig herself out of this one? Zuko just sat there with a stupid grin plastered across his features. Akari wanted to slap that smile right off his face.

She took a deep breath, gathered her thoughts, put them into words, and spoke. "We are caught between who we are and what people have made us." She stared at her hands, refusing to meet his stare. If Zuko had any opinion on the statement he didn't say anything.

"Sorry, that was stupid," Akari muttered, mimicking his words from what seemed to be an eternity ago.

"No," Zuko recited, a small smile tugging on his lips. It disappeared quickly though. He paused for a while, and then met her gaze evenly. "It was true," he finished. Akari guessed that he was making sure the words actually were. Then his brow furrowed. Akari could just imagine the gears churning in his brain and the smoke puffing out of his ears as he measured her words. To be honest her mind was reeling too. She found herself shocked and saddened at how true the statement was. Akari half expected him to shed some light on the statement.

Instead he laid his hands under hers. They were warm to the touch. "Stretch out your fingers. I need to see if your knuckles are broken," Zuko said. She hesitated, then Akari complied, slowly unraveling her fingers until her palms were laid flat against his. Her knuckles creaked and cracked, and the fresh wounds hurt a little. Besides that they felt fine. She dared a glance at his face, desperate to know what he was thinking. She could've sworn there was a small smile on his face.

Zuko, satisfied that her knuckles weren't broken, began wrapping them in bandages. After a few moments of him wrapping and tugging, Zuko snapped his head up.

"Are you going to tell me what you said to my uncle? Before I left for the solstice? He refuses to tell me. He says he 'promised' you," Zuko blurted out as he finished the bandages, unable to keep the question in.

"No," Akari stated simply. She didn't even have to think about that answer. It did please her that Iroh stayed true to his word; she just didn't dare to smile. She wouldn't want to make Zuko angry. Apparently a smile wasn't necessary to accomplish that.

"No? No! Why not?" Zuko asked, the anger beginning to build in him. It was practically radiating off of him.

"Why do you want to know?" Akari retaliated, trying to keep the edge out of her own voice. It was not like he had done anything helpful to her—minus helping her walk and this whole knuckles thing. Besides, he just wanted answers. He wanted to get information. The political side of him told him to. It wanted him to have the edge.

"I'm just trying to figure you out!" Zuko said, waving his arms wildly. This caught her off guard. She hadn't considered for a second that he might genuinely want to know her. For a while the only thing that filled the air was their angry breathing. Eventually it died down and silence took its place, but Akari could have sworn she heard his heart beating rapidly. Or was it hers? Maybe both.

"Same here," Akari rebutted softly, meeting his gaze evenly.

The young prince sighed, shaking his head at her. Akari barely felt it as he gently laid his hand on her left shoulder. She mentally cursed her scar for destroying half the nerves in her shoulder. She quickly became aware of how close they were; their knees touching, his face so close she could feel his breath ghost across her face. His golden eyes were looking right into hers. _If he leaned in just a few inches more…_

Apparently he realized it too. "Goodnight Akari," Zuko said softly and quickly, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder. She caught a glimpse of his flushed face as he turned away. Then he was gone.


	6. Chapter 6 Wild Ride

**Hello world. (:**

As promised here is the longest chapter so far. Thank you for the reviews. They are awesome.  
As always, please review. They make me more motivated to write. ;D

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA.

Thank you all so much!

~Rehyou

* * *

Wild Ride

The next few days they traveled steadily. Zuko carefully followed the Avatar North, skirting the waters near Earth Kingdom villages. Akari's body didn't feel any better, yet her muscles still grew stronger. The whole situation just made her frustrated and confused. But currently Akari's thoughts were elsewhere. The ship was steaming ahead smoothly—an unusual feat for the battle worn vessel. From what she could hear out her tiny window, the ocean was calm. Akari didn't like it. _Wasn't there some saying about the calm before a storm?_

Akari was beginning to contemplate this further when her thoughts were rudely interrupted. She could hear the shouts and furious accusations violently echo down all the way to her cell from the deck. Intertwined in the commotion, Akari was able to pick out Zuko's voice, apparently arguing about the Avatar's importance over the safety of the crew. Suddenly things quieted down. Akari assumed Iroh had stepped in. Then right on cue Zuko's dramatic exit occurred as he marched his way to his quarters. She was slightly concerned, but decided not to let it bother her too much. Then Iroh entered.

Recently Iroh had taken to bringing her on walks around the ship with him. Zuko was hesitant at first, but then gave in when he decided that she only caused trouble when the Avatar was involved. Plus batting her eyelashes a little helped too. Zuko had even started joining them, but she had this feeling he would be sitting this one out. Iroh shuffled over, unlocked the cell door, and opened it wide.

"Are you ready to take a stroll?" Iroh asked, smiling half-heartedly. His thoughts seemed to be preoccupied.

Akari ignored that. She leaped up and practically frolicked out of her cell, just happy to have something entertaining to do. "Can we go up on the deck? I want to see the water."

"Of course," Iroh mumbled. Now this whole "distracted" vibe she was getting was becoming a little annoying.

She decided that wasn't going to get her down. This was her time for partial and temporary freedom. And she was going to enjoy it, damn it. So Akari followed him, practically beaming as they headed down halls and climbed staircases until they reached the deck. Akari immediately rushed to the front of the boat, clutched onto the ledge for dear life, and let the salty air brush her face. Just as she suspected, the water was unusually calm, despite the huge thunder clouds rolling in. She noticed Iroh joined her.

"The calm before the storm," Akari said, the words turning out to be more of a question than a statement. She was just trying out her luck with her thought from earlier.

Her uncertainty earned a chuckle from the elder man. "Yes. That is precisely what I predicted," Iroh confirmed, a small smile forming on his lips. Then he was silent.

Akari walked two of her fingers along the rail of the ship, pretending they were little legs. "What was all that shouting?" Akari asked, her eyes staying focused on her finger-legs.

Iroh sighed deeply. "Lieutenant Jee argued with Zuko over his lack of concern for the crew and the way Zuko treats others. Zuko of course got furious and it almost turned into a huge duel—"

"—until you stopped them," Akari finished.

Iroh just nodded, and then brightened up suddenly. "Let's not dwell on this. This is your time for some fun. Why don't we go down to the boiler room and see what the crew is up too? Perhaps they are playing some music." With that the two descended the stairs.

They were not playing music.

They were sitting around a barrel fire, venting their feelings about none other than Prince Zuko.

"I'm sick of taking his orders and I'm tired of chasing his Avatar!" Lieutenant Jee was gesturing wildly, anger and frustration dripped in his voice.

Akari stole a glance at Iroh. His face was still and unmoving, but a flash of emotion darted across his features. She couldn't tell what it was.

Lieutenant Jee wasn't finished yet. "I mean who does Zuko think he is?" the man continued. Akari just wished he would shut his trap. Anger was beginning to fill her. Maybe it wasn't smart of them to trust her not to misbehave.

Suddenly, Iroh spoke. "Do you really want to know?"

Akari watched the shock roll across the crews face like a tidal wave. They quickly stood up and bowed to him. It bugged her that they pretended she didn't exist, but what did she expect? She sometimes forgot she was a prisoner on this ship.

"General Iroh! We were just—" The Lieutenant's voice was frazzled as he attempted to apologize.

"—it's okay. May I join you?" Iroh asked, descending the stairs to where the men sat. At the Lieutenant's consent, he plopped himself down on a stool. Then Iroh turned to look back up at her.

"Akari, would you like to hear?" Iroh asked. His expression was solemn.

She knew the basic outline of Zuko's story. Most people of the Fire Nation did. It went something along the lines of his mother disappearing, his father suspected of the crime but never charged, him struggling to keep up with Azula, him disgracing the Fire Lord, then ending with his banishment. Nobody really knew the story of his scar. It was all quite a scandalous family history. Either way, Akari wasn't sure she wanted to hear his past this way. The truth had a way of getting twisted. More often than not, there were many sides to a story. Akari was a testament to that. So she decided a long time ago that if she ever heard the details of Zuko's life, it would be from him.

She shook her head, turning to leave; a bit surprised that Iroh didn't make somebody escort her back to her cell. As the door closed slowly behind her she heard Iroh begin.

"Try to understand, my nephew is a complicated young man. He has been through much…"

Akari roamed the halls of the ship for what seemed to be hours. She explored all the rooms that were unlocked, thoroughly enjoying her new found freedom. Even though she was hopelessly lost, it was still fun. Then the changes in the weather became brutally apparent. The boat swayed violently, rocking from side to side. Rain beat relentlessly into the sides of the metal vessel. Akari struggled to walk down the halls without tumbling over. The chains around her wrists did nothing to help her balance.

The sound of the lightning was deafening.

It sounded like the crack of a whip being wielded by an extremely angry spirit. It must have struck the ship because vibrations ricocheted throughout its metal frame. Akari leaned against a wall, the tremors from the lightning making her teeth chatter. Then Zuko came bursting out of a room.

He paused when he saw her, apparently puzzled by the fact that she was walking around without his uncle. He thought better of it and ran towards her, grabbing her by the arm.

"We have to get to the deck, the helm could collapse any second," Zuko shouted, his lips practically brushing her ear in an attempt to get her close enough to understand over the claps of lightning. Akari nodded furiously in response.

Zuko took off, pulling her along. He wove them through halls and down and up a staircase or two until they reached the deck. When they emerged the rain soaked them immediately. Dismayed at the sheer power of the storm, they glanced at each other, both of their eyes filled with anxiety.

A wave barreled into the side of the boat, tipping it drastically. Akari grabbed onto Zuko's arm (which she discovered to be quite muscular) in an attempt to stabilize herself. Likewise Zuko clutched onto her forearm and pulled her closer to him. Another wave came, this time they watched in horror as it reached high into the sky—then came tumbling down towards the deck. Zuko pulled them onto the ground so they were both crouched down. Akari buried her head in her knees. She felt Zuko's frantic breath against the back of her neck as he buried his head in her hair and his arms attempted to shield her body. She clutched onto his shirt, lest the waves tear them apart. The wave felt like a million tons as it crashed onto them, each drop of water feeling like a bullet against their skin. They were easily swept up in its monstrous grasp and their backs were slammed cruelly against the wall of the ship.

The pain was so great that Akari blacked out for a moment. She wanted to stay under the thick blanket of her unconsciousness where the pain of her scar was muted. She wasn't that lucky. Her eyes snapped open to the concerned face of a young prince hovering above hers, his hands gently shaking her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Zuko's shout sounded like a whisper.

Akari pointed in response.

She watched as Zuko looked in the direction of her finger. The helmsman was hanging off of the edge of the broken tower. To her relief Zuko said some words that she couldn't hear and then ran off. She barely noticed as the crew and Iroh joined them on deck.

Akari didn't watch the rescue mission or listen to Iroh and Zuko decide to head to the eye of the storm. She didn't even see the Avatar come blasting out of the water and soar away. Akari was too busy burning away in her own personal hell. She sat with her back against the wall of the ship, her knees pulled to her chest, and her eyes staring at the hands that twisted and clawed at her bandages in her lap. Through all this, her face betrayed no emotion.

She supposed this didn't fool Zuko. He crouched down next to her and she felt his hand rest gently on her knee. She snapped her head up to look at him. Still, he sat there, his warm hand not even flinching as she studied his face. It looked anxious. She saw a concerned Iroh standing behind him and the crew in the distance, gesturing wildly at the damage done to the ship.

"I said you need to come inside," Zuko spoke softly. She hadn't realized he had already asked. Akari began to stand up slowly, much to the protest of the two men, the slid back down to the ground. She guessed her face twisted in pain because Zuko's brow furrowed and Iroh inched closer. _So much for being strong._

"Being strong is not hiding your weaknesses—it is admitting them," Iroh said softly.

Zuko ignored his uncle, now holding his hand out for her to take. Akari considered him for a moment, studying his eyes. Zuko remained quiet; those his eyes were begging her to take his hand. Silently Akari took it, letting him pull her up carefully. The pain shot up her spine, but she ignored it. He let her walk on her own, though his hand never left her back. Her pride was battered and bruised enough as it was.

Akari realized that was why he was being so quiet about this—her pride. _Of course he, banished prince of the Fire Nation, would know a thing or two about having your pride injured._ More often than not, pride was the only thing the two had. The thought that he understood brought a smile to her face.

Zuko saw it and shook his head, giving her a shove, causing her to trip a little. Even he couldn't hide the small smile that crossed his features.

To her surprise they lead her to the map room. She hadn't even noticed the walk there—she had just been concentrated on walking. Zuko sat her down on a metal bench then went to a tall book shelf, his finger skimming along the scrolls in search for a particular map. Iroh appeared with three towels, gently draping hers over her shoulders. Akari pulled the towel closer around her body.

Zuko had found the map he was looking for and laid it out on the table. He placed his hands on the desk, his figure bent over the map as he examined it.

"We are going to have to pay for the damage done to the ship," Iroh stated, eyes studying Zuko.

"Yes, but we are also running dangerously low on supplies. We need to eat," Zuko replied, his voice dripping with frustration. Iroh nodded eagerly in agreement, patting his stomach. "The repairs are going to be _expensive_—even if we fix it just enough to keep going." Zuko seemed to be doing some mental math, counting numbers on his finger tips. "How much money do we have?"

Iroh left for a moment then returned with a black bag. He spilled the contents onto the table. Akari watched as dismay and horror filled the two men's faces as maybe a dozen coins tumbled out of the bag.

"What are we going to do?" Zuko whispered, too shocked to be furious.

Iroh stroked his beard. "This is quite the predicament. We cannot afford both supplies and repairs."

Suddenly, Akari had an idea. She could just imagine a little flame appearing over her head with a ding. She stumbled her way over to the table, earning a raised eyebrow from the young prince. Akari studied the map; it was one she knew well. The map focused on the ocean and shores of the area surrounding the most western tip of the Earth Kingdom. On the very left side of the map a tiny bit of Fire Nation territory could be seen. Akari's home had been there.

Akari swallowed the knot in her throat, shook her head, and pointed to a small dot indicating a town along the Earth Kingdom's shore. "How far are we from here?" She asked, focused on the map.

Zuko took her pointed hand and moved it further away from the coast and into the ocean. "Here," he replied. Akari chose to ignore the suggestive faces Iroh was making in the background. Zuko didn't, and quickly removed his hand from hers.

Akari nodded. She didn't know much about maps, but she figured they were less than a day's journey away. "That town is a shipping town. It exports many goods throughout the world. Because of this it has a very diverse culture and has men who know many trades—like fixing ships. It is run by Fire Nation authority but inhabited by Earth Kingdom people, so we won't exactly be welcome, but our presence will be tolerated."

"That fixes our ship problems, but we still can't afford food," Zuko pressed, his eyes met hers.

"I know a family who lives here. They own a farm and independently ship their goods around the area. They are not extremely wealthy, but they have always had products to spare. They will help us out," Akari explained. Zuko opened his mouth to protest, probably going to point out the family had no reason to offer assistance to the Fire Nation, but Akari cut him off.

"Their son owes me," Akari said bitterly.

Zuko looked at her, his brow knit together, and his face filled with concerned. She was coming so close to just telling him everything. She felt her resolve slipping from her grasp every time his features softened and she saw the real side of him peeking through. Akari found she couldn't, not yet anyway. She wouldn't even know how to begin. So she looked away from his golden gaze.

Iroh ignored all of this and rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I will go inform the crew immediately," Iroh declared, turning to walk out the room. Akari and Zuko shared a smile when they heard him mumble something about his hopes for the excellent tea to be found.


	7. Chapter 7 Open Wounds

**Hey guys. (:**

Sorry it's been so long! Soccer tryouts have been going on the past two weeks. So I have either been sleeping/eating/playing soccer/too tired to write.  
To make up for it, this is a REDICULOUSLY long chapter. Over 5,000 words. I thought about splitting it up but decided I didn't want to. And I almost didn't but in the snips from her past. Yet, here it is. Please forgive me. ;D

-Please review/comment! This chapter is prone to having a lot of mistakes because of its length and the state I was in when I wrote it.

-I do not own A:TLA. If I did, idk what would happen. I would probably be ruler of the world and every Thursday would be chocolate milk Thursday.

Thanks for putting up with my absence. The next one won't take as long (I hope). I've had the idea for it for a long time.

~Rehyou

P.S. I decided, starting next chapter, I am going to have a little quote/lyric/something that goes with it. So look forward to that. :3

* * *

Open Wounds

"We're lost," Akari admitted with a frustrated sigh.

Lost was an understatement. The ship had docked at this town well over an hour ago. Since then, Zuko and Akari had been wandering the streets, trying in vain to find the family she was looking for. Zuko had begged her to ask for directions, but she refused partly because of her fear of being recognized and partly because of her pride.

"You think?" Zuko shouted. He dropped his voice down when people's heads snapped around to stare at them. "Will you _please_ ask for help now?"

Akari didn't answer. Instead she walked over to the closest villager. "Excuse me, could you please tell me where Kane and his family lives?" She asked, flashing the man a smile.

The man rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sure. They live just north of the docks. You just follow the trail and their home will be the first you see."

Akari bit back a bitter laugh. They lived right by where they had docked the ship! She flicked her bangs out of her eyes and then asked for directions back to the docks as well. She hoped she could remember all of this. After thanking the man, Akari returned to a fuming Zuko. His eyes bore into hers as he waited for an explanation.

"We have to go back to the boat," Akari stated and started walking off in the direction she thought the man had said to go. Zuko scrambled to catch up with her.

"What?" Zuko snapped, his face a comic combination of shock and disgust. Akari chose not to laugh at it. "The family doesn't live here does it? Ugh! I can't believe this," Zuko ranted and threw his hands wildly in the air. Then he pointed an accusing finger at her. "I bet you made them up! You're just using this to run away! Well if you think I am going to give up that easily then you—"

"Stop!" Akari cut him off, fight back a laugh. "Actually, they live north of the docks."

"Oh." Zuko dropped his hands back down to his sides. His face calmed down a little. Then a thought seemed to form in his mind. "So we've been wandering around all day, when they live just fifteen minutes from are ship?" Zuko asked through gritted teeth.

Akari just smiled apologetically in return.

Zuko heaved a frustrated sigh and let his head and shoulders slump. Akari let out a small laugh and gave him a pat on the back.

"Come on, what if we had found them right away, gotten the food, and left? We would be back on the ship right now! That would be so boring." This speech earned a groan from the young prince. Akari smiled sarcastically. "Where is your sense of adventure?"

Zuko straightened up and shook his head, his grimace replaced with a small smile.

They eventually found their way back to the dock and had been on the trail for roughly ten minutes. It wound up a hill and along the seaside, taking them on a crooked journey to the supposed estate. Each step brought them closer to food. Each step tightened the knot in Akari's stomach. Her fingers dug into her palms, piercing her flesh. Her eyes darted from the swaying grass to the trail to the clouds drifting lazily across the sky, unable to focus on one thing too long. Her anxiety did not go unnoticed by Zuko. She felt his gaze flicker to her face every now and then. Akari chose to ignore him.

Kane. Just that simple name brought the fire to her finger tips. He had once been her best friend. Maybe she would have fallen in love with him, but she had been young and feelings like that did not exist then. The last time she had seen him, she had been 14 and he was 16. Akari did not allow herself to think of all the memories that tried to rush in along with the thought of their last meeting. They were too painful. It had been three years since Akari had laid eyes upon his face—and three years was not enough time to forgive him for all the deeds he had done. She figured an eternity would not be enough.

Akari and Zuko reached the crest of the hill. Below them lay a small cove where three ships rested. A safe distance from the shore laid one of the nicer homes they had seen in all their wanderings here. A barn was tucked in between two hills, and behind it a sea of crops and fields swayed in the ocean breeze.

Zuko started to walk again, but Akari jumped in front of him and put her hands on his chest, bringing him to a stop.

"What now?" Zuko sighed and paired with a roll of his eyes.

Akari swallowed her pride and lowered her hands to her side. "I have a favor to ask you." This caught his attention. He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to proceed.

She focused her stare on the worn out leather of her boots. This idea was ridiculous. But it was the only thing she could think of that would ease her fears. Without some sort of plan, stepping anywhere near that farm seemed impossible. "Can you kind of pretend to be my boyfriend?" Akari asked, almost sheepishly as she looked up at him to gauge his reaction.

Zuko's jaw dropped. After a few seconds he seemed to realize it, closed it, only to have it hang open again.

"Look, I see that you don't want to. It's just that this kid used to be in love with me in a creepy, scary way and probably still is. Bad things have happened between us. I just don't know what he's going to do," Akari rambled. Her mind was reeling, trying to come up with the words to explain this. "You don't have to be all touchy-feely. I would actually prefer if you weren't. It's just sort of a precaution."

His expression hadn't changed and Akari was afraid he would blow up or turn back around. She hid her face behind her hands. "I—I…I'm afraid of him." The words were barely audible as they twisted their way from between her hands and to his ears. Each second ticked by in her head at an agonizingly slow rate. Then she felt his hands pull hers away from her face.

"Fine," Zuko relented. "I'll do it."

"Really? Thank you!" Akari threw her arms around his neck, wrapping him into a hug before thinking about what she was doing. His arms awkwardly hung by his side for a moment, unsure what to do. He must have decided on something because she felt his arms wrap around her waist and return the gesture. Akari tried not to think about being so close to him. She tried not to think about how he smelt like a summer storm or how his breath was tickling her neck. How she could stay like this forever. She didn't think of any of these things. _He is a prince. I am a prisoner, _Akari reminded herself.

Only seconds had past and Akari pulled her way out of the hug. "Let's go." She spun on her heel and continued down the path, Zuko stepped into stride a moment later. They continued down the trail until they reached the doorstep of the house. The fields of crops and the barn were quiet, so Akari assumed the family must be in for lunch. Zuko raised a fist to knock on the door when she stopped him.

"Hold my hand," Akari commanded, holding out her right hand for him to take.

"You have got to be kidding me," Zuko sighed and stared at her outstretched hand.

"We've got to be convincing," Akari explained. When she didn't receive an answer from him a frown spread across her lips. "Please?"

Zuko considered her for a moment. With an exasperated sigh he took her hand. She felt better right away. Being here made her feel like she was time traveling. All of her childhood memories that revolved around this family were flooding her vision and blurring the present with the past. Zuko's warm grip in hers was like an anchor, and Akari held onto it like her life depended on it.

Maybe her grip was crushing his fingers, because she saw his concerned gaze out of the corner of her eye. But he didn't say anything and Akari chose to ignore it as she knocked loudly on the wooden door. There were some loud bangs, a few cusses, and finally the shuffling a feet. Akari struggled to swallow past the knot in her throat. Then the door flung open, revealing a lean figure. The boy looked about 18, with choppy brown hair that reached his shoulders, with half of it pulled up into a topknot. His eyes were green, his face angular, and his skin was tanned from farm work. It was Kane.

Zuko's eyes still hadn't left Akari when Kane ripped her from Zuko and pulled her into a hug. It was not a nice experience. It was not warm or gentle. It was rough and bone crushing. His arms were locked around her waist and his head buried in her neck. The feel of his breath made her shiver in disgust, but he took it differently and hugged her tighter. Akari's arms stayed limp at her side as she waited for the experience to be over.

"Akari! I can't believe it's you! I missed you so much! I never thought you would come back and see me!" Words tumbled out of his mouth and spilled into her ear. Each one made her want to slap him across the face. She was about to tune out all the noises around her when another sound caught her attention—a cough. Suddenly the grip was relaxed slightly and Akari sucked in a big gulp of air. "Who's this?" Kane asked, his voice bitter.

Akari felt a warm hand wrap around her arm, guide her out of Kane's grip, and pull her into Zuko's side. His arm slipped around her waist and brought her closer to his body. Somewhere, amongst all her emotions, she decided she didn't mind this. "I'm Zuko. Her boyfriend," Zuko answered with a voice like daggers. Akari watched as Kane subconsciously took a step back. _Oh, he's good._

Kane opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut as his mother appeared in the door. She was a muscular woman with her son's green eyes and her brown hair thrown back into a messy bun. Currently she was wiping her hands on her apron. Her gaze darted from her, to Zuko, to her, then back at Zuko for a long moment before finally looking Akari in the eye.

"Akari, darling, it is so good to see you again. My, you have grown into quite the beauty—just like we always knew you would. But please, come inside and out of the sun," Rei said as she pulled her son in by the collar of his shirt before holding the door open for Akari and Zuko. Akari eased out of Zuko's arm and went in first, though she felt his fingers of one hand hold onto the hem of her shirt as if he was afraid to lose her.

They were ushered into a rather large kitchen. Kane was already leaning in the frame of the open back door, his gaze alternating from the landscape to Akari. Rei leaned against a countertop, wiping her brow. Akari stood uncertainly in the middle of the room. Zuko stood next to, if not a little behind her; his fingers still holding onto the edge of her shirt.

"I would offer you a seat, but as you can see, you have caught us in the middle of harvesting. We've had a surplus this year, so a lot of the crating has to be done here," Rei apologized gesturing to the space around her. Every available counter surface, including a table, was piled high with baskets of crops. Much of the floor space was taken by crates that were waiting to be filled.

"It's fine," Akari smiled. She had always liked Rei. She had always been a good, hardworking woman who had kept her mother company whenever her family had been in town trading—which was risky business seeing as Fire Nation towns weren't allowed to trade or be traded with by others. Besides her family and farming, there was nothing Rei liked more than to talk. Akari opened her mouth to ask about the food, but Rei beat her to it.

"My husband is out working on the docks, otherwise I'm sure he would love to come and say hello. The barnacles that get stuck on the ships are horrible to remove. Did you know—" Rei continued on about ships and ocean life and crops and Agni knows what else. Akari nodded every now and then and threw in a smile or two. For the most part she didn't pay attention to what Rei said, distracted by the fact that a very bored prince was tracing his fingers along the hem of her shirt—his fingers often brushing against the bare skin of her back. Until what Rei was saying caught her attention. "—It is so frustrating. How can we not get word of a tragedy until weeks after it happens? When the Fire Nation destroyed your little town, why, we didn't even know until we went to trade there the next month and all that was left was ashes. What a disaster," Rei clucked, shaking her head.

Zuko's hand froze, confirming her suspicion that he had heard. Akari's hand went to her head as she tried to steady the dizzying world. It was all she could do to keep from falling to her knees before the onslaught of memories followed.

_She was sitting on the cliff side, surrounded by cherry trees and the sounds of the ocean—waiting for the fireflies to come out. She loved how they used their little fire to dance across the night sky. To her, they were nature's fire benders. It was especially beautiful this time of year. The cherry trees, no longer pink in the early autumn months, were beginning to deepen in green. Some of the leaves were even falling. She hadn't wanted to miss this night. Soon the fire flies wouldn't come out anymore—that's why she wasn't at home. She looked back to the west, towards her village, and saw the sun setting behind the mountains. It painted everything red and gold, especially today. It looked like the world was on fire. She thought it was beautiful. Then she noticed the smoke. _

Rei didn't seem to notice her stress. The mother had discovered that wiping her hands on her apron over and over again would not remove the stain of dirt and mud. She dipped a rag into a basin of water that was sitting on the ground. It was probably to wash crops in. Rei wringed it out and began to busy herself with cleaning all the grime off her hands and fingernails. Akari became desperate for that water. Her throat tightened. Her body begged for it, but she couldn't move. She could feel her throat drying—suffocating.

_She ran as fast as her fourteen-year-old-legs would carry her. She was fast—probably because she liked to run. She ran from everything. It was different, running towards something. It was like she couldn't go fast enough. She ran the three miles back home only to find everything in flames. Fire Nation soldiers were setting everything on fire. People were running everywhere. Women were screaming. Children were crying. The few men that had returned from mining were scrambling to find their families. She ran to the heart of their town, then off a side path to her home. It was gone, burned to the ground in a pile of dust and ash. Bewildered, she raced back to the main street, suffocating on the smoke. Her throat tightened and she became desperate for water to relieve the pain. She tried to call for her parents, but she couldn't find the words. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. She collapsed on the ground with the chaos surrounding her. Then it dawned on her. He told. It was her fault. It was all her fault._

Kane noticed. She could feel his eyes drilling into the side of her head. It felt like a hammer trying to pound a nail into her skull. She wondered what he felt when he found out about her home. She wondered if he enjoyed the personal hell she was burning in right now. She wondered what he would do if he knew about the scar that was crippling her back. She wondered if he was happy about it all.

Akari felt Zuko's once light touch on her back turn into a trembling fist.

_Her mind went numb and she turned her face upwards to the heavens. The sky no longer looked beautiful. It was painted in an inferno that she had never known before. It was painted with the blood of her bleeding heart. She had to do something…even if it meant sacrificing herself in the process. With determined movements, she stood. The flames easily came to her fingertips as she drank in the setting sun and sent a solitary flame into the sky. The blasts of fire stopped. The villagers, as she had hoped, kept moving. She felt the soldiers eyes drill into her head, shocked that the flames had come from the young girl. Her body shook and her fists trembled with the guilt and raged that filled her very being. Her friends' survival depended on her ability to distract the soldiers until they captured her, they were defeated, or she died. As the soldiers encircled her a smile crossed her lips and a tear rolled down her cheek. She dropped to the ground. Balancing on her hands, she twisted her legs in a circle around her body. Pushing up into the air she landed heavily on her feet, shoved her arms out on either side of her, and sent the towering ring of fire that surrounded her out in all directions._

_Thus Akari's world burst into flames._

"I suppose you aren't here to chat," Rei nodded, satisfied with her hygiene. She tossed the rag onto the counter next to a basket of corn. Placing her hands on her hips, Rei looked Akari up and down. "What can we do for you?"

Akari dropped her hand from her head back to her side, though she couldn't will it to stop shaking. It took her a moment to find her voice. It still felt like the smoke was infecting her airways. "I—we have been traveling on a ship. We got caught in a storm and had to spend our money on necessary repairs. We have a crew of six, plus us two and his uncle. Now we are running low on supplies and we were wondering—"

"You were wondering if we could give you some food," Rei finished for her. Akari nodded meekly in response. The woman sighed and rubbed her temples. "That's a big order. Nine people for who knows how long out at sea." They all waited patiently while Rei did some mental math and some decision making. She knew it was a big request to fill. If for some reason Rei refused, Kane better step in. He owed her so much more than a few weeks worth of food. "Alright. You might have to make do with smaller portions, but I'm sure you can handle that. You're family has always been very good to us. They never told authorities about our illegal trading, although your town traded with many people like us. Still, your mother would do the same for Kane."

Akari winced inwardly at the mention of her mother, but forced a smile on her face. "Thank you so much," she said graciously, bowing slightly. Even with their surplus this year, this was a very generous gesture.

Rei merely nodded in response. She pointed a finger at Kane instructing him to go to the barn and haul a certain amount of each crop into the wagon outside the barn. He left without a word. Then she turned to them. "I can give you a wagon to carry the food back to your ship. The wagon belongs to a merchant by the docks—we borrowed it to carry things home. So you can just return it to him when you are done unloading." Rei looked at Zuko. "You can go help my son load the crates."

"Of course. Thank you," Zuko muttered. He hesitated, bowed quickly, and walked to the back door. He paused in the doorway and glanced back at her, his eyes worried. Akari struggled to bring a smile to her lips in a poor attempt to reassure him. She was sure it looked like a grimace at best. Zuko shook his head and then trotted up the dirt path in the direction of the barn. Akari stared after him. It might seem stupid, but she was just imagining Zuko and Kane getting into some kind of fight.

Rei's voice snapped her back into reality. "You can help me shuck corn for dinner." Akari nodded and joined her by the counter that was laden with baskets of corn. She set to the tedious work of stripping the corn and tossing the husks into an empty basket. Akari glanced at Rei and saw she was staring coldly in the direction Zuko had left. That's when Akari realized Rei knew who Zuko was. She had been betting that Kane would be ignorant of all the tales of a banished prince. But of course Rei would know. She loved the gossip.

Suddenly that cold gaze was staring at her. "Akari, answer me truthfully. Are you okay?"

Akari was taken back. "Yes. Why?"

Rei looked away from her and busied herself with corn. "It is just strange that you would be traveling with the Fire Nation's Prince, even if he is banished." Rei eyed her up and down. "You have become quite the woman, and I can see why he would take a liking to you. But I must know… are you traveling with him because you want to? Are you treated well?"

Rei's implications finally became clear. She thought she was a slave of sorts. It surprised Akari how quickly the answers came to her. "Yes and yes," she answered, a bit to her own dismay, truthfully. Rei nodded and two shucked for a few minutes more until Akari couldn't take it. "I'm going to go help them."

Akari had this gut feeling. She couldn't explain it, but it made her uneasy. She walked out the door and started at a leisurely walk towards the barn, trying to look calm. She couldn't see the barn because the path went up a hill before flattening out enough for a building to be erected. Akari had barely reached the base of the hill when voices came trailing down to her.

"No! You are the one who needs to back off! I have been her best friend since before she could run! She needs somebody better than you! She wants somebody who can provide for her and take care of her! Not some ugly little bastard like you. She doesn't even like you!" Kane shouted. It sounded like he chewed each word before he spat it out. Each lie he said made her gut wrench.

"You don't even know her!" Zuko retaliated; his voice was drenched in anger.

She could just imagine the look on Kane's face as he scoffed, "Oh and you do?"

Akari broke into a jog as she started climbing the hill. _Damn it. _She was only a quarter of the way up.

"I'm trying," Zuko's words were whispered so low she could barely hear them. "I know that she has been through a _hell_ of a lot more than most people go through in their entire lives, and I'll be lucky if I ever get to hear it all. I also know that all the nightmares and all her pain somehow all comes back to _you._" Zuko's voice remained calm, but with each statement his voice grew louder and stronger until his final accusation ended in a shout.

Akari broke into a run. She came over the crest of the hill and could see the two standing outside the barn. Kane was surrounded by a shattered crate and destroyed lettuce heads that he must have dropped. His hands were tearing at his hair and his eyes were wild. Zuko was standing a foot away, an accusing finger pointed at Kane. His footing was dangerously close to a fire bending stance. His free hand trembled in a fist by his side. Neither of the boys noticed her approaching.

"Everyone hurts her at one time or another. Your time will come too," Kane spat mockingly.

"I would never hurt her," Zuko stated through clenched teeth. If she had paused to think about it, that statement would have been ironic really. She was his prisoner. Though she supposed it could be worse. In a way being free might be more dangerous for her. But Akari had no time for this, she was coming to a screeching halt at the scene of the fight and was attempting (and failing) to come up with a way to stop their fighting.

Kane's head snapped around to look at her. His right hand clutched onto her wrist and dragged her to his side. His fingernails dug into her skin as she twisted her head to look at Zuko. It was obvious he was barely holding on to his control. She tried to wiggle her way from his grasp, but his hold was strong and he didn't even seem to notice her struggle.

"You think she's so perfect?" Kane laughed bitterly. "The reason everyone hurts her is because nobody crosses her path and leaves unscathed. Her town is a testament to that. So am I." Kane's face twisted into a cruel smile as he held out his left hand for Zuko to see. She knew what was on it. There was a burn that covered his palm and twisted down the inside of his wrist in tongues of flames. Zuko's face went blank as he stared at Kane.

"Remember this Ari?" She winced at her nickname. He held his palm right in front of her face. She jerked away from it, but he held her still, wiggling his fingers in a jerky motion as a result from the nerve damage. "Remember how you burned me? How you broke my heart and decided to leave a permanent reminder on my hand? The left hand, ironically enough, is the one that is connected to your heart. You always were _so_ creative. Re—"

Kane was cut off as Zuko's fist connected with his jaw. There was a loud pop and Kane's grip relaxed enough for Akari to escape. She watched helplessly for a few moments as they fought. Kane didn't recover quickly enough to avoid Zuko's next punch to the rib. Kane doubled over then kneed Zuko in the gut. He must have seen it coming and flexed, however, because the blow didn't faze him. Akari dove in, trying to put herself between the two. Someone's finger nail cut across her cheek before Kane was suddenly removed from the brawl.

Rei had dragged him off by the collar. "Go," she ordered him. Kane, shaking with rage, jogged off with a slight limp in the direction of the house. When he was out of sight, Rei turned her attention back to them. Zuko's breathing was deepened slightly and Akari could feel the pinprick of blood from the shallow scratch. "Fill up the rest of the cart with the supplies over there. Then I think it would be best that you leave." She looked at them once more, then shook her head and left.

Zuko and Akari worked quickly and in silence to load up the cart. They discovered the Rei had been more generous then they could have hoped to expect. Akari stayed up in the wagon to load it while Zuko handed her the crates. When they were done, she jumped down from the cart and landed heavily on the ground. Still dizzy from today's events, she leaned against one of the wheels. To her horror, she found herself blinking back tears. Then there was a hand on her shoulder.

"You can drop the act Zuko," Akari said bitterly. She tried to force a laugh, but all that came out was a choked sob.

Zuko ignored the comment and tried to catch her gaze. "Are you okay?" He asked. The concern in his voice surprised her. Even more shocking was how genuine it sounded. She opened her mouth to answer with some witty remark of some sort, but instead she found hot tears flowing down her cheeks.

This time there was no hesitation. The hand on her shoulder pulled her into his body. His arms wrapped around her, enveloping her in his warmth. Her own hands rested on his chest; she was unable to will herself to move them elsewhere. Akari buried her face in the hollow of his neck and his chin rested on the top of her head. The tears lasted only a few moments. Yet even when they stopped, he still held her. Zuko didn't try to comfort her. He didn't try to tell her everything would be okay. They both knew that wasn't true. So for a long time they stayed like this, each of them nursing their own thoughts.

"We should get going," Zuko said, his words muffled by her hair. She pulled out of his arms and they each grabbed one of the long handles of the wagon. They set off down the trail at a brisk jog, tugging the cart along behind them. When they passed the house and continued on the path back to the ship, Akari dared a glance back at the home.

Kane was sitting on the doorstep. His gaze was trained heavily on her fading figure, and even through the distance, Akari thought she saw guilt in his eyes and tears on his cheeks.


	8. Chapter 8 Cracks

**Hello.**  
Sorry I was gone for soo long...months actually. I just got so busy with school/sports/life. What can I say except for I am extremely sorry.  
I noticed some of you said you have questions about Kane (who he is, his role, ect.). GOOD. This whole thing is meant to keep you guessing about her past. And hopefully, you will guess wrong. Then towards the end, it will all fall together, and every little detail will make perfect sense.  
That's the plan anyway.

So, please read and review. It means the world to me. Tell me anything about my story. What you like, what you'd change, what you don't like. Just write!  
WARNING: I am even more obsessed with T Swift right now since her album came out, so sorry if you become drowned in her lyrics. ;D

**I do not own A:TLA, if I did, I would mostly like be fired right now for taking so long to write about it. D':**

Love you forever & always,  
~Rehyou

* * *

Chapter 8 Cracks

"I told you I'm not bulletproof,  
Now you know."

-Taylor Swift

Akari was exhausted.

She and Zuko had tugged the cart full of food back to the ship. The return trip was quiet; each of them silently chewing over the day's events in their mind. All Akari could think of was Kane and the memories his presence stirred within her. It was like a broken record playing over and over again. The result was a headache that was still pounding against her temples. The two had helped the guards unload the food before returning the wagon back to the shopkeeper. Zuko made certain that she was put back into her room then immediately went to his quarters and fell asleep. Akari refused to rest. All the images of Kane and her past were tormenting her while she was awake; she couldn't imagine what it would be like if she went to sleep.

So she stayed up all night. Through blurry eyes she guesses by the sunlight that it is just after noon. She is sitting with her back against the wall and her legs stretched out in front of her. Akari had busied herself with playing a kind of game. About every thirty seconds her head nods against her chest and she has to snap it back up and remind herself to stay awake. Then in her head she counts out the seconds until the numbers become fuzzy and her head hits her chest and the games starts all over again. Thus Akari has spent the past 18 hours.

Then Iroh came in with a tray and broke her monotonous state of being. He sets the tray down and begs her to get some sleep. He is practically on his hands and knees. He tells her how terrible it is for her already fragile health, that she needs to close her eyes and slip off into sleep. Akari doesn't say anything, silently refusing, even though all the reasons are very true and she is being irrational. But the fact is that he doesn't know what waits her in her sleep, he doesn't understand she would rather stay up for the rest of her life instead of facing the monsters that wait for her.

So Iroh stops with the pleading and instead offers her some tea. Her throat feels like sandpaper and swallowing is a chore, so she accepts with a nod. The steaming cup of tea is warm between her fingers. It slides down her throat easily and fills her belly with warmth. She watches the steam swirl whimsically in the air, twisting and turning as it pleases. Suddenly her head is nodding against her chest again, but this time she doesn't fight it because it feels so nice to close her heavy eyelids.

The thought that the tea might be drugged crosses her mind right before sleep envelops her in its clutches.

* * *

Akari jolts awake with a start. Her body is completely soaked—whether it is from blood, sweat, or tears she can't tell. She can't remember the details of her dream, but the one image that she has is enough to drive her to insanity. The images of Kane keep flashing across her vision, burning against her mind like hot iron. His crooked smile, his booming laughter, his furrowed brow, his incurable rage, his rabid yell, his silent tears, and his pained eyes all replay across her memory. Each one could be a dagger buried to the hilt into her back for the amount raw pain it brings. She realizes she is slamming her right shoulder against the unrelenting steel wall, apparently trying to feel any other kind of pain.

There is a commotion going outside the hall and then suddenly her door bangs open. Akari presses her back against the back wall of her cell and watches as men pour into the room. From the looks of it, all the crew is here except for the helmsman, a general, and a young prince.

"You!" The man who leads this mob turns his beady eyes to her and presses himself against the cell bars. "What the hell is your problem? Do think it is funny to make a ruckus in the middle of the night?" Akari didn't answer any of his questions but the man continued anyway, his voice rising significantly. "Well we don't!" The rest of the man cheer to his speech and begin to add statements.

"I have the two am shift! I need my sleep!"

"We should have turned you in to the Fire Lord from the very beginning!"

"Or better yet, we should have tied her to a rock and seen if she could still swim!"

"What is wrong with you?"

The voices rise in volume and intertwine with each other until it is just a cacophony of angry sounds. Akari presses her hands against her ears and squeezes her eyes shut, trying to block out the world around her. Her scar begins to throb as it often does in stressful situations, adding to the chaotic atmosphere. Just when she thinks she might go insane, one voice manages to reach her. Akari drops her hand back to her sides and snaps open her eyes.

"What the hell is going on here?" The owner of the voice sounds far away, as if it is coming from the other side of the mass of bodies. "Move. Move! Damn it, get out of my way." After a few more grunts and some shoving, a young prince pops out between two guards and stumbles his way up to her cell. The room falls quiet, only a few mumbles heard escaping from the men's mouths.

Akari looks down at her leather boots. There is a pause as he takes in her appearance. She can't meet his eyes; her pride won't allow it. Yet again she has managed to look like a helpless fool in front of him. Her body is drenched, her clothes are disheveled and soaking, her hair is hanging down to the middle of her back in a tangle of waves, and her bangs and the hair framing her face are plastered against her cheeks with sweat. After what seems to be an eternity, he speaks.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Zuko asks in a measured voice. She can immediately tell he is beyond angry. It's even worse because he isn't yelling at her. His voice is even and monotone, but each word is drenched with a different kind of rage and thrown at her like a pointed dagger. "What could be so damn terrifying that it would cause you to wake up my entire ship? Please tell me, because I really have no clue."

Akari almost lies. It would be much easier to tell him that it's nothing. That's what she always does—she pulls on a false bravado and acts like nothing in the world can hurt her, because pretending is easier than the telling the truth. But this time she decides to stray from her usual course of action. Now, because of the other day, Zuko will know how much the truth hurts. So she rips her gaze from her boots and finds his lovely golden eyes that are now dripping with anger.

"Kane."

Her voice is shaky and weak, which adds to the overall effect. She watches as his face becomes blank and unreadable. Zuko's eyes scan over her disgusting appearance, seeing her tragic state in a new light. Then he whirls, around, orders all the men out, and closes the door behind him as he leaves without once looking back. Akari sank to the ground, pulling her legs tight against her chest. Letting out a ragged breath, she buried her head in between her knees. She didn't know what that boy was thinking, but at least all the noise was gone. Many questions swirled into her mind, but she shoved them aside. She was in no mental state to deal with Zuko's complex character. So instead, she began counting numbers until a restless sleep came over her.

What Akari didn't know was that out in the hall, Zuko was holding an impromptu meeting. The guards were silent, but he could feel the frustration radiating off of them.

"If she ever wakes any of you up again, just come knock on my door then go back to bed. I'll take care of it. Got it?" When nobody answered, Zuko repeated the question with a little more anger. "Got it?"

The men mumbled yes sir and they all wandered back to their rooms.

And they did just that. Sometimes he would come shake her awake, then go back up to his room without speaking a single word. Other times he would stay and talk for so long that exhaustion would pull Akari into sleep, and when she would wake up the young prince would be curled up in a stiff wooden chair or sleeping against a wall. Tonight is such a night. The nightmare is chaotic and full of fire and lightning. Akari can't make sense of it all, but it still terrifying. Then she hears her name being called. After hearing it a few times in her dream, she realizes that it belongs to Zuko. The sound of his voice wakes her enough to feel the hand shaking her shoulder, and she snaps awake to find herself gasping for breath.

Akari pushed herself off her cot and sat with her back against the cool wall and her right shoulder pressed against the bars of her cell. She had both legs pulled up, with her forearms resting on her knees. Her head was tilted back until it rested against the unrelenting steel as she tried to catch her breath. Out of the corner of her eye Akari saw that Zuko had arranged himself similarly; one leg stretched out, the other pulled up, and his eyes closed. It was strange really. He had woken her so many times that now all it took was a few calls of her name from his voice to wake her up. It was like her mind was starting to recognize it.

"They're getting better you know," Akari muttered half-heartedly. Zuko responded by lazily opening one eye and rolling his head in her direction. Alright, so it wasn't that convincing. But was she really in any condition to produce a decent lie? A deep sigh, bordering on a groan, escapes her lips and earns a small smile from Zuko as he leans his head back against the wall. Their shoulders are pressed together through the barred wall. Akari can feel heat radiating off of him so strongly that it reminds her of the sun. She wonders if it because he is a fire bender that he is so warm. Or maybe it's just him. She is about to ask him if her body temperature is unnaturally warm when she notices his golden gaze trained on her.

"What?" She doesn't mean to come off defensively, but that's what happens. She suppose it caught both of them off guard because he snaps his eyes away and stares down into his lap like it is the most interesting thing in the world.

"Nothing," Zuko states sourly.

After that wonderful moment passes, Akari decides to busy herself with the day's events. It sticks out in her mind because unlike most, something interesting actually occurred. A giant animal that sees with its nose had come crashing onto the boat. It had done some damage and left Zuko frustrated. She half wondered if that was the reason he was so moody. The lack of sleep could also be a factor.

For the first time, Akari notices he is running a necklace through his fingers. It is beautiful and exotic looking. There is a shining silver pendant on a thick, silk ribbon that reflects the moonlight in the dark cell and peppers the ceiling in sparkling stars. For some reason, she has a strange feeling that the stone would not mirror the sunlight as well as it captures the moon. On top of all this, the necklace seems vaguely familiar.

"What is that?" Akari asks gently. Somewhere in the back of her mind she felt bad for snapping at him, but she would never admit that. So instead she was attempting to make up for it by being nicer.

Zuko took a long time to answer. He ran the ribbon through his fingers again and again as he held it in his lap. Not for the first time she wondered what went on in that mind of his. She was pretty sure it was things she would never want to deal with. Then his face became determined and he lifted his head up. He held the necklace up in front of his eyes and watched as his fist enveloped the pendant.

"It's my next plan," the young prince rasped. Then he got up and left without another word.

* * *

Iroh, Zuko, and Akari were standing outside of a shady looking Earth Kingdom tavern. It was large—two stories tall not counting the attic. Most of the windows are boarded up and a few beams of light burn through the cracks and cover the ground in a dozen spotlights. There is the muffle of voices along with the melody of crashes emanating from the building. Iroh seems hesitant, but Akari is excited, even though her arms are chained behind her. Zuko storms right in, dragging her behind him by her arm. As soon as she enters the door the voices raise, so she can't even hear herself think. She tries to take a deep breath but just ends up inhaling the smell of smoke, sweat, and alcohol.

Iroh is shouting apologies to the men. She doesn't really get the point, because the pleads fall on drunken ears that don't give a damn about anything besides how full their cup is. And suddenly, they are watching a striking young woman slam a man's fist into the table.

"You trashed my ship. You have to pay me back," Zuko growled.

June smiles contemptuously as she rakes the pile of money close to her chest. "Aww, I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money." She turns to the crowd and yells, "Drinks on me!"

A smile crosses Akari's lips as the men erupt into a deafening cheer. She was beginning to like this lady.

She returns her attention back to the table just in time to see Zuko slam his hands onto the table and hiss, "Money wasn't what I had in mind."

They gathered outside and as the door slammed behind them, the volume dropped to a chaotic murmur. June's attention turns to her. Akari watches as the woman's eyes run over her body and linger on the chains that bind her arms behind her back.

"Does ponytail over here have some creepy fantasy about chains or something?" June asks humorlessly. Her hand lazily gestures from the chains to a fuming Zuko. Still, he keeps his mouth shut. She supposes it's because he doesn't want to risk insulting June.

A smile creeps across Akari's features as she shrugs and rolls her eyes. "He doesn't trust me."

June considers this. "Is it without good reason?"

The memories—breaking out of her cell, fights, helping the avatar escape time after time, wandering around his ship, waking his crew—flash across her vision. She hears Iroh chuckle as he recalls his own memories of her various antics. Zuko is silent. "No."

June smirks at her answer. Akari can see the wheels churning as they imagine all the crazy messes that have been occurring on their journey. Then the specialist's face turns serious. The fact emerged to her mind from the mist. She supposes it had been obvious, but she hadn't taken the time to acknowledge it. June didn't realize Akari's state. She was now just realizing that the girl in chains was a prisoner.

"If I free you, would you run?" The question takes Akari by surprise, because she never would have pegged June for being the kind of person to take interest in her customer's affairs.

Akari can feel every pair of eyes trained on her. The eyes of Zuko and Iroh burn into the side of her head the most, but her gaze doesn't leave June's. In truth, it even astonishes Akari how quickly the answer comes to her. "No."

June just nods, as if she is satisfied with the fact that there is no need for her assistance.

"I need you to find someone," Zuko growls. Apparently his patience has died out because she notices that his fists are clenched against his side. The change of conversation brings out a few more sarcastic remarks from June and a few failed attempts to remain calm from Zuko. Eventually, they settle on the price of Iroh's weight in gold. As June holds the necklace for her shirshu to smell, Zuko turns to his men. He tells them to return to the ship and that he will send a messenger hawk of their locations.

There was some struggling as Zuko tried to help Iroh attempt to scramble onto the animal. Each try ended in some pulled fur and both boys falling to the ground.

"Can I have some help?" Zuko huffed. This time Iroh was using his nephew as a stepping stool. Each movement caused Zuko's back to crack in a million different places.

In response Akari looked him straight in the eye and jingled her shackled hands. June just laughed.

Zuko let out an exasperated sigh just as he collapsed to the ground; his uncle landing on top of him. Eventually, Iroh managed to situate himself behind June on the saddle. Akari didn't even want to think about his motives. It made her want to puke. Zuko nimbly jumped onto the shirshu, gracefully bouncing from limb to limb. It was a hard act to follow. Akari looked from her chains back up to the top of the shirshu. Her brow furrowed. There was no way in hell she was getting up there.

"Uh, can I have some help?" Akari called up to the people sitting in the saddle, looking down at her with amused expressions that were doing nothing to help her current situation. Since Iroh and June were too busy giggling, Akari looked to Zuko and pulled a pleading grin onto her face.

Zuko gave her the same vacant stare she had given him just a while ago.

Akari grumbled with annoyance. "Oh come on Zuko! That was different! Can't you just—" Suddenly, Zuko's arm reached down and pulled her up mid-sentence so that she was between Iroh and Zuko. "Thanks," she mumbled. She didn't bother to turn around and see that stupid little half smile of his that was probably smeared across his face. There was another predicament she had to deal with. As far as Akari could see, she had two options: cling onto Iroh's back, or lean into Zuko's chest. Neither was very appealing to her. The decision was made for her as June sent the Shirshu into motion and the momentum sent her sliding into the young prince behind her. Akari had a weird feeling June did that on purpose. She felt the sturdy touch of his hand steady her as they began their journey.

* * *

Neither of them was sleeping much, although the trip was to continue long through the night and throughout the next day. Their reasons were different. Akari managed to keep her eyes open for most of the night. But around four in the morning, she found that her eyes kept closing, and her mind kept drifting. She didn't want to fall asleep. She was worried about falling off, hitting Iroh, elbowing Zuko, and making a fool of herself. Yet she couldn't help but to lean into his body and lay her head back against his chest. She couldn't help but to feel his warmth and succumb to her heavy lids. Then all of the sudden everything was engulfed in flames. Lightning came cracking out of the sky. She tried to run from it but a bolt would always strike right in front of her. All she could think was that it wasn't possible to shoot lightning from your fingertips. It wasn't possible. It can't be possible. She couldn't tell if this burning world was real or not. Then a voice called her from her sleep and hands guided her from her terrors.

But it wasn't just any voice or any hands; they were his. And lately that meant the difference between insanity and reality.

"Akari! Akari!" He was whispering her name in her ear with a harsh tone in an attempt to wake her. His hands were gripped onto her shoulders, shaking them. Akari snapped awake and struggled to swallow a lungful of air. He must have realized she was awake because his arms let go of her shoulders and slid down her arms to hold her right above her elbows. That was probably for the best because she was hunched forward, her forehead almost touching a sleeping Iroh's back, and not paying attention to staying in the saddle. Each bounce sent her dangerously close to falling off. Eventually she felt Zuko ease her back against his body.

It frightened her that she was beginning to rely on him so much. Akari had never had to trust anybody but herself. Now what would happen is she had to count on him to save her from the things that terrified her most?

As she gathered her bearings, she wondered why he didn't sleep. Her mind told her that it wasn't just being so focused on catching the Avatar. It was more than that. Normally she would have mulled it over in her head, but for some reason she decided to ask.

"Why don't you ever sleep?" Akari mumbled. Her head was tilted back against his shoulder. In her half dazed state she could see his profile set against the dark night sky.

"You're not the only one who has nightmares."

* * *

After a few random stops, many sleepless hours, and countless thoughts about Zuko's words, they finally arrived at an abbey. The shirshu followed the scent in and out of the cluster of buildings; tearing down the main gate along the way. Then they came to two kids on the trail. The shirshu cornered the girl against the short ledge. But it was not the girl she recognized. It was the boy who had come scrambling out of nowhere in a dress, ponytail bouncing, all the way back in Kyoshi Island. But the boy with the tattoos is gone. Akari isn't the only one who notices.

"Where is he? Where is the Avatar?" Zuko demands. His hands grip on tighter to her arms, though she can't tell if it's from anger or to keep her from running. The next thing she knows the two are paralyzed, thrown onto the back of the saddle, and they are bounding back for the abbey.

"Long time no see," Akari says brightly, turning back towards the boy and girl. She could only guess how much this would annoy Zuko. "What's going on?"

The boy's shoulders flop in a poor attempt to shrug. "Nothing, just hanging."

Akari doesn't even have time to smile at the bad pun when Zuko's arm is turning her around to face forward. She almost finds the situation amusing. _Almost_.

The abbey walls were fast approaching when suddenly the shirshu stopped. Then Zuko pushed her off so quickly that she only managed to throw a few cusses in his direction. The few seconds of air time allowed her to see the shirshu take off and the guards that were emerging from the forest. In that short span of time, her instincts kicked in.

Akari hit the ground rolling, and most of the impact was absorbed harmlessly as she tumbled across the forest floor. She stumbled out of her roll and took off in a run. Her balance felt off because of her chains, but she couldn't let that stop her. That was not an option. Even though she considered herself exceptionally fast, they were gaining on her. Fire bending was minimal. She had her hands tied; literally and physically. She didn't want it to come to hand to hand combat, because Akari wasn't sure she could win. But she had no other choice. Akari slowed her run down until the first of the three soldiers got too close for comfort. She threw herself backwards, diving right into the man's legs. Thankfully she kept rolling, and the man fell to the ground right after she passed underneath him.

As she was struggling to get back up, another came and pushed her down onto her back. He hovered over her with a stupid smile slapped across his face. So she kicked out her leg and shot a burst of fire into his chest. As the man was propelled into the air backwards, he slammed the other guard into a tree. Both were knocked out. Akari was just about to start running when the first man grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her close to his face. His helmet had fallen off and she could see vengeful look on his face. She had no idea what to do. She couldn't fire bend. His grip was like steel.

So she kissed him.

The man seemed almost as surprised as her. But while he tried to decide whether he should throw her off or pull her closer, Akari kneed him the groin. He doubled over with pain as little yelps escaped him. She kicked her foot into his shoulder which sent him crashing into a tree. Three down.

As Akari took off towards the abbey, she had the need to spit multiple times.

"What a terrible kisser."

* * *

The scene inside the abbey was chaotic. Zuko and Aang were engaged in a complex duel around the rim of a well. Likewise, the shirshu and the flying bison thing were taking turns dealing blows to each other. June was nowhere in sight; this worried Akari. But to her left she saw the two water tribe people slumped against the wall. Akari reached them right as a resident did; the nun fixed their paralysis with a whiff of perfume.

"We need a plan," Ponytail said, cracking his wrists and neck as his muscles came back to life. "That thing sees with its nose. Let's give it something to look at."

The older nun turned her head slightly. "The perfume?"

The boy nodded in response.

"But it's all the way over there!" The woman gestured frantically to a large door behind the shirshu. "How are we going to get over there?"

"Appa will hold it off for us." So the fluffy air mammal had a name.

The girl interjected, "Appa has already been struck twice by the tongue. I don't think he will hold up much longer."

Ponytail considered this, his brow furrowed. It was quite obvious he was concentrating very hard. "Then I'll distract Mr. Sniffy while you all go and dump the perfume."

"No Sokka! It's too dangerous!" The girl was grabbing her brother by the shoulder now. Every motion was as dramatic as possible to get her point across. "I won't let you! Appa has been hit twice—" the whipping sound of tongue lashing against skin was heard again. Everybody winced. "—three times. You saw what just one did to us!"

"I'll do it." All of the heads turned to look at Akari. She didn't say anything else, because whatever they said wouldn't matter. She was set on protecting them—not the other way around. Sokka opened his mouth to object, but his sister cut him off with a piercing look and a sharp nod. Akari wasn't sure whether the girl agreed because she knew Akari wouldn't budge, or because she would rather have a random stranger out there than her brother. The decision had been made not a moment too soon. All of the sudden a violent tremor ricocheted throughout the abbey as Appa was thrown against a wall. He didn't get up.

"Show time," Akari mumbled before taking off in the direction of the shirshu without looking back. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that June had joined Zuko in an attempt to bring down the Avatar. A chill rolled down her spine; they didn't have much time.

Akari walked forward with twisted steps that dug her toes into the ground—resulting in short blasts of fire that were aimed towards the smelly beast. The thing reared up, infuriated by the flames. The animal was terribly tall and intimidating when you weren't trying to ride it. Akari sent a silent plea for Sokka to work quickly. As its massive paws crashed against the earth, its barbed tongue flicked out towards her. Akari drop quickly into a roll and sprung back up onto her feet just in time to sidestep another flick of the tongue. She barely had time to gather her bearings when the tongue lashed out again.

_Damn it, damn it, damn it!_ Akari thought furiously to herself as she tiptoed to her right, just barely missing the tongue again. She hadn't counted on it being so quick. Akari rolled onto the ground to avoid another hit; but her chains got caught as she tried to get up. That split second of lost balance was all it took. The tongue slapped across the small of her back. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out as she flopped face-first onto the ground. Everything felt fuzzy and numb. Most of her limbs felt like they didn't even exist.

The way she landed gave her a view of the Avatar, his back against a wall as he fought against the young prince and the fierce woman. Akari sucked in a huge gulp of air, which was a challenge within its self, then slowly rose, inch by inch, onto shaky legs. Even the shirshu seemed surprised. Hell, she sure was. It didn't make sense how she could be standing on things that didn't feel like they existed.

Standing back up seemed to insult the creature on a personal basis. It screamed a terrible shriek before lashing out once more. Akari sloppily stumbled to the left, amazed when she felt the rush of air as the tongue whipped past her. But it came back again, and this time she wasn't able to step back quick enough; it slapped against her belly. She crumpled once more. This time the pain stung. Everything still felt fuzzy, but there was an edge to it. Her ears weren't working; all she could hear was a loud, obnoxious static noise that drowned out everything else. She couldn't see well because everything seemed to be shaking in front of her. But she had to get back up. Giving up was not an option. It wasn't an option.

Somehow, Akari managed to drag herself back to her feet, although her legs trembled violently, and kick a weak blast of flames at the unsuspecting-shirshu's feet. The creature whipped around, and she could see the fire in its eyes. Akari absently wondered if she would even be able to survive on more hit. She saw the tongue come flying in her direction.

At the same time a sea of perfume flooded over them. The small wave caught her right in time. But the tip of the tongue still slapped against her wrist—that was enough. Fragrances and confusion washed over her as she watched the shirshu loose its mind in the madness. Then colors filled her vision and mixed until all she saw was black.


	9. Chapter 9 Truth

**Hi again,**

Okay, I know this chapter is _alot_ shorter than what I recently been dishing out, but writting a 6,000 word chapter takes time; time that I don't have. So I figure that giving you guys some shorter stuff more frequently might be a better trade in. If you would rather have longer stuff less often, just tell me. (:  
So this chapter, I will admit, is more fluffy/relationship-building/tiny-peaks-into-the-past chapter. Currently I am trying to move along to the chapter where the pirates blow up Zuko's ship. Stuff is going to go down and hopefully things will pick up. So look forward to that.

As always, please review the story. It means the world to me, especially if you toss in some ideas or thoughts about what you love/hate about the characters or plot in general.

Special request: We all know that heartbreaking, hurt look that Zuko makes out of nowhere that makes you go "AWWWWWWW ZUKO BBY :'( " Or at least I do that anyway. There was somebody on devinart who I thought captured it perfectly. I'll put their name at the bottom of this if you want to look them up and hunt it down. Anywho, I _tried_ rediculously hard to capture that look when he is asking her to answer something. So please, please tell me how I did. Thank youu ;D

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA, if I did, I would never have to wish upon a shooting star again. :3

Love you all,  
Rehyou~

DevinArt: Look up myloo11 The picture is gorgeous.

* * *

Chapter 9 Truth

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep.  
But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

-Robert Frost

Nothing made sense.

Now, a lot of things don't make sense to Akari. She doesn't understand why some people smell like smoke and peppermint and others smell like storms and woods. She doesn't understand how people have managed to tame elements or how fire flies glow. Sure those things have an answer that she doesn't know, but this…

This is just insane.

She is staring at something. It's brown—dirt maybe? But here's the thing, the dirt is moving. Or maybe she is moving? But that doesn't make sense either because her legs aren't walking. Come to think of it, she can't even feel her legs. Everything feels fuzzy and numb. Where she thinks her stomach is feels different too. If she had better feeling, the word to describe it might be sore. But that's not all. The world is bobbing in front of her limited vision. _What the hell?_

What is this? The so-called dirt is getting closer with each _bob_. Then all of the sudden it is rushing up to meet her and she is falling. Her spine slams against the well-worn path, and her vision becomes even foggier from…tears? She tries to blink them back, but she can't tell if it's working. That slam did much more than bring those tears to her eyes—jarring wave of pain rolls throughout her body, scratching her bones together, and tearing her muscles apart. The only thing she is aware of is the burning pain in her shoulder.

Then suddenly she is on her hands and knees and her whole body is shaking violently. She is coughing and staring at the ground, praying that it will all be over soon. The ground she is watching is getting flecked with droplets that taint the dirt a rusty red. _Holy shit, I am coughing up blood, _is the second coherent thought she is able to form since waking. The surprise makes her gag, which sends her into another coughing fit. None of this makes any sense to her. She shouldn't be coughing up blood. She should be able to feel her body—not this numb prickle.

Boots are now in her vision. She follows them up until she is looking in the eyes of Zuko. He is beyond furious. His lovely golden eyes are narrowed and drenched with rage. Every muscle in his body seems to be strained—his crossed arms, his wide shoulders, his neck, his face…

Akari opened her mouth, half to explain herself and half to keep her thoughts from going in that direction, but she immediately starts to cough again and she has to look back down at the ground. In the back of her mind she wishes he would just go and spare her the embarrassment.

Despite her wish, she hears his knees crack as he crouches down in front of her. His hand is gently running up and down her spine and the other one is holding her hair out of her face. This is completely the wrong scene for this. She can't fathom why he would be doing this. Pity, she decides. It has to be pity. What else could it be?

When the coughing subsided and she spit out the last of the blood, he easily swooped her up into his arms. Normally she would appreciate this moment. Too bad she can't feel anything. Without a word, he somehow manages to get them onto the Ostrich-Horse. It is a strange arrangement. She is in front of him. Her legs dangling off one side and her back is supported by the arm that is wrapped around her and pulling her against his chest. Zuko is somehow managing to steer with one hand. She decides that he must have had her thrown over the back of the saddle like a sack of potatoes. That would explain all that madness—the nerve of him.

Still, he smells so nice, like forest and a storm, that she breaths him in and starts to close her eyes. That is, before she is rudely shaken.

"What?" Akari mumbles; disgusted at how much her voice sounds like a drunken hermit.

"You can't sleep," He says simply. _Thanks for the explanation._

"Why not?" Her words are sloppy and drawn out, and too her surprise, she can feel his chest shaking. He is laughing at her! "Stop laughing at me. I can feel that you know."

He tries to stop, but she can still feel his chest pulsing with the laughter. _So I can feel now!_ It was true to a certain extent; she could feel movements, although they seemed very miniscule and dull. "Because, my uncle says if you go back to sleep, you might not wake up," Zuko answers. To her surprise, he sounds a bit concerned and serious.

"Bullshit," Akari struggles to mutter, earning another chuckle with her drunken drawl. This was going to get annoying. "I'm tired. I want to sleep."

"That's new. You _want_ to sleep?" Okay, so he had her there. Of course she didn't want to sleep. The pain she felt in her dreams wouldn't be numbed by this fuzziness.

"How do I stay awake?" Akari whispered.

He heard the tone of her voice and reacted accordingly. "We are going to ask each other questions. And you have to answer truthfully."

"Or else what?"

"Or else," he paused, considering the punishment, "you have to do a dare of the winner's choice."

Akari nodded, at least she think she did. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. This was a challenge. She was not going to lose to some freak in a ponytail.

"Me first," Zuko announced. Akari rolled her eyes at him, but he ignored her. "What is that cord around your neck?"

This question surprised her simply because she had almost expected him to coddle her on the first question. She should've known he wasn't the type. Akari reached to her necklace, her hand struggling to obey her commands. It was a thin, leather cord that was worn down. She had only taken it off once.

"My dad did, a long time ago. It used to have a little square of metal on it, 'cause he was a miner. He liked things that most people thought was worthless. It wasn't a pretty metal or anything. It was actually the most common kind. But he thought it was beautiful because it was all ugly and rough on the outside. But when you heat it up it would turn a billion different colors and then harden into a shiny white metal. He believed in stuff like that—being rough on the outside and all clean on the inside." Akari rambled. She supposed she should have been embarrassed, but she was staring off into space, remembering the moment, lost in a different world.

"I like that," he muttered. He seemed to be equally deep in thought. She smiled a bit, more to herself than him. "Your turn."

She furrowed her brow, trying to think of something. Then she looked at his right hand, the one that was holding the reins. On it was a ring. For some inexplicable reason, her heart sank. _Is he married?_

"What is that?" she pointed to his hand.

He let go of the reins, trusting the beast to continue at its lazy pace. He tugs the ring of his finger and holds it to her. She runs her finger along it, but doesn't dare hold it. She wouldn't trust herself to be able to hold it. The ring is silver and tarnished with age. There were words inscribed in it, but in her half-delusional state she couldn't make out the words. Something else—the words were glowing a faint red?

"Am I crazy, or is your ring glowing?" Akari questioned as she rubbed her temple with her hand.

He smiled softly, patience crossing his features. "Well, I don't know about the crazy part," Akari punched him weakly in the shoulder. He just laughed at her, "but yes. The words do glow." He paused for a moment, his brow furrowing as he gathered his thoughts. "You know those rock lamps that a lot of Fire Nation buildings have?" Akari nodded. "They are a very rare rock that when somebody fire bends at it, it absorbs the fire and locks it inside the rock. So it will glow until it is shattered. That's what is in the letters. The blacksmith made this put thousands of little rocks in the inscribed letters. My mother gave it to me."

Akari couldn't help but notice how his voice caught when he said mother. She pressed herself closer against him, not bothering to try and comfort him with words. His arm pulled tighter around her, holding her there.

"So your mother's fire is in there?" Akari mumbled into his chest. She already knew the answer though. So when he simply held up the ring in front of his shining eyes, she didn't mind that he didn't answer. He probably didn't trust his own voice. After a moment he slid it back onto his right hand and picked up the reins again.

In the silence that followed, the need to close her eyes washed over her once more. Her body was begging for sleep, so she closed her eyes, letting the heat of Zuko's body and her exhaustion begin to lull her into sleep.

"What are your nightmares about," Zuko rasped. Her eyes snapped open immediately. It was more than another question; it was a reminder about what awaited her in her sleep.

"Lots of fire," Akari whispered. "Sometimes there is lightning. Lightning is the worst. I _hate_ it."

"Lightning?" Zuko repeated. Akari nodded furiously against his chest. "Have you ever tried to shoot lightning? I bet you could."

That thought alone was absolutely terrifying. "No. No. No. No. I never want to bend lightning." Akari paused, recalling her dreams. "Kane is there a lot." She noticed Zuko's grip tightened around the reins. "My family is always there…"

Pain gripped her heart as memories began to creep back into her mind. She looked around frantically, trying to find anything to make the memories go away. Her eyes looked up and landed on Zuko's face. His forehead was wrinkled with worry, but she isn't focused on that. For the first time since she's met him, Akari allows herself to inspect his scar.

"Does your scar hurt?" The words trip over themselves as the stumble out of her mouth. She just wants to distract herself with something. Tentatively, she reaches up with a wavering hand and places it on his scar. The skin is unbelievably soft and as smooth as silk—just like the skin on her scar.

"My scar…" The words are soft and slow in coming. He drops the reins and lifts his hand to his scar, laying it over her hand that is still pressed against his cheek. The heat of his skin penetrates through the numbness and fills her body with warmth. "Most of the time it is fine. I just can't feel too well. Like your hand right now. I can feel it's pressure and it's warmth, but it's all faint. But sometimes when I am stressed out it starts to pulse. Kind of like…" Zuko paused, struggling to come up with a good description.

"Like a big heartbeat." Akari offers, thinking of how her scar feels all the time.

"Yeah, just like that," Zuko agrees. But his expression is serious and a bit worried. Maybe she gave too much away. Great, now he is going to worry that her scar hurts her all the time.

The silence that follows is long. She doesn't know if minutes or hours pass. Akari can feel Zuko's gaze studying her face intensely. It wasn't like he was trying to be discrete about it. His whole face was turned towards her; just staring.

Akari wasn't really paying attention to all this. She was staring off into the trees watching the landscape as they lazily made their way down the path. The sun was starting set over the horizon. It was painting the world in what most people considered to be a beautiful color—to Akari it just seemed to be a bloody red. It reminded her of that terrible evening that had washed over her memories at Kane's house. A shiver rolled down her spine.

"What is your favorite color of eyes?" Zuko asked out of the blue. Akari snapped back to reality.

"Gold," she answered without even thinking. The answer had been subconscious, automatic, and completely embarrassing.

His gold eyes widened, and a tiny small tugged at the corners of his lips. She buried her head in his shirt so she wouldn't have to look at those lovely honey eyes that she had just admitted to loving so much. He chuckled, only slightly, causing the laugh to vibrate throughout her body. There was a slight pause.

"I like brown-green eyes," Zuko admitted, his breath brushing against her hair. His voice wasn't sarcastic. There was no hint of laughter in his voice. It sounded serious and gentle. Why did nothing make sense to her anymore?

"That's a stupid color," Akari mumbled into his shirt. She still wasn't willing to look at him. Akari snapped bitterly, "Besides I didn't ask you."

"Then what do you want to ask me, Akari?" Zuko shouted. His sudden change of tone shocked her. His voice was filled with passion and frustration. She could feel his chest rising and falling at a furious pace. And suddenly, she knew exactly what she wanted to know.

"Why do you care so much?" Akari asked, the volume of her own voice rising. She looked up at the passionate expression in his eyes, not aware that her hands were gripping onto his shirt. "Why didn't you just turn me into Fire Lord Ozai the second you captured me?" He winces at the sound of his father's name, but she continues. "Why do you keep me around even though I ruin your attempts to capture the Avatar time and time again? Why do you wake me up from my nightmares? Why don't you just let them torment me?"

"I don't know!" Zuko snapped back defensively.

"You don't know? That's your answer?"

He hesitated, his eyes searching hers. He snapped his gaze from her and stared off into the space in front of him. "Despite what you seem to think, I am not some cold hearted beast." Akari wanted to interrupt him, tell him that was the opposite of her opinion of him, but he continued quickly. "I would never willingly deliver someone to my father—that is a terrible fate that I would never wish upon anybody. You and I have a lot in common; you said so yourself. We've been scarred by the pasts that still haunt us. Even though you don't tell me everything, I've always tried to be honest to you. So I apologize if I've started to like you after all this time." His voice had softened by now. He opened his mouth to say more, then snapped it shut.

She wondered if there were three certain words on the tip of his tongue.

"That is my answer," Zuko finished. He squeezed his eyes shut for a quick moment. When he opened them, he seemed more calm and even a little determined. What had gone on through his head that had put that look on his face was unknown to her. She thought he had finished his speech, but he continued.

"I don't _want_ to hurt you," Zuko rasped. She looked back up at him and found that he was looking at her; his face showed a sweet tenderness that she had only witnessed a few times.

Akari didn't answer. Instead she leaned back against him with the side of her head pressed against his chest. Suddenly, she felt his soft lips press against the top of her head. It was so light that she had barely felt it through her numbed nerves. Regardless, her heart rate spiked to a mile a minute and her stomach filled with butterfly wings. She wasn't sure if she was going crazy, but she could have sworn she could hear his heart pounding against his chest.

She was afraid to look at him, much less speak. Her mind was swimming and she could hardly form a coherent thought. So she was glad that it was his turn to ask a question. That was, until he asked it.

"Who burned you?" Zuko asked. His voice was so soft and quiet.

"Oh Zuko," she sighed. He had to know that she couldn't tell him. It would only hurt him if he found out that it had been his father who had given her the painful scar that consumed half her upper body. Couldn't he just accept that?

"You told my uncle, why can't you tell me? Don't you trust me?" Zuko questioned softly, his voice was almost a whisper. She looked up at him, and immediately wished she hadn't. His expression was so sad and confused. His eyes were shining and his brow was furrowed.

"I do. I trust you more than anyone I have ever met in my whole life. I-I just can't," Akari stuttered. Her explanation was a shitty one, but it was all she had. It was all he was going to get for now.

"Akari, please. I don't understand." His voice, his voice was so heartbreakingly sad and broken. He sounded so confused, but that's not what killed her. What killed her was how betrayed he sounded. That alone caused her to waver, if only for a moment. She absolutely hated the raw pain in his voice. Even worse was the fact that she was causing it.

"I'm sorry Zuko, I pass," Akari whispered. She traced the stitching on his shirt with her finger, following the hem down and across his stomach and back again.

"You pass?"

"Yes."

He considered this for a moment. "You realize that you will have to do whatever I dare you to do."

"Yup," Akari said simply. If he dared her to turn herself into the Fire Lord or even leave him forever, she would do that—just to make up for the pain she caused him. "So what do you want me to do?" Akari asked, a bit of worry creeping into her voice.

"Oh I need to think about this. It has to be good. I may need days, weeks, months, or even years," Zuko announced. She could hear him trying to force the disappointment out of his voice.

Akari groaned, but then fell silent; half hoping that he would make up his mind if she was quieter. Her thoughts drifted to the recent scene. She admired how he wore his heart on his sleeve. His emotions were so painstakingly raw and obvious. She, on the other hand, had to survive by hiding her emotions for so long, that it was hard to be anything but calloused at times.

Akari's thoughts were interrupted by the numbness in her body. Before everything had felt non-existent, now a buzzing feeling was started to creep throughout her limbs. It felt like pins and needles only a thousand times faster. The need for sleep elevated to a point where her eyes stopped opening and her mind kept drifting in an out of reality; she was on the verge of unconsciousness.

Zuko was shaking her again.

"Wahh?" Akari managed to slur. She struggled to open her eyes even a half an inch.

"Akari, you can't go to sleep. You can't!" Zuko kept gently shaking her, each one causing her eyes to open a little more each time.

"Why not?" Akari muttered. What was so bad about wanting to sleep?

"You might not wake up! Please, please don't sleep. Stay awake," Zuko was practically begging. She bet if they were on solid ground he would be on his hands and knees right now.

"I will," Akari retorted groggily. It wasn't very convincing apparently, because Zuko groaned loudly and shook her again.

"How do you know?" Zuko pried; his voice full of disbelief and concern.

Akari mumbled something unintelligible in response. She wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed herself deeper into his warm chest. If he was trying to make an argument on why she should stay awake, he was going to have to try much, much harder. Her shook her, tried to unlock her hands from around his waist (and failed), ran his fingers through her hair, stroked her face, and even gently slapped her cheek a few times all in vain attempts to keep her eyes open.

Finally he stops with all the antics, though she wishes he would keep running his fingers through her hair. The silence alone was enough to make her open one eye half way. He is looking right at her, and a tiny smirk is pulling at the corner of his lip. _Shit._

"Promise me you will wake up," Zuko's golden eyes don't leave her own brown-green ones for a second. "Promise me."

_Damn him,_ Akari thinks to herself as she squeezes her eyes shut. Of course he would figure out how seriously she takes promises. Now she would have to. If she didn't, the heartbreaking expression on his face would be enough to torment her dreams—then sleep wouldn't be worth it anymore. Akari thinks of that rough piece of metal that was worthless to everybody else minus a few, but on the inside it shined like a thousand suns and had a beautiful heart hidden in the center that only a handful of people knew existed. Akari realized that, despite what a whole nation thought, he was far from worthless to her. She wanted to be there to see every shining sun appear until his spectacular heart was fully revealed. Besides, her father would have loved him.

"I promise."

Those two words are barely audible and said with a hint of sarcasm, but they were enough. She feels him kiss her hair once more, though this one feels like it lasts much longer than the other one. The last image she had before she finally lets sleep pull her under is his golden eyes staring at her and a cute, tiny frown pulling at the corners of his lips.


	10. Chapter 10 Poison of the Heart

**G'day :)**

So here is another chapter! This shorter chapter, more frequent updating thing is really working out for me. ;D  
Anywho, thank you for all your reviews! I just figured out I can personally reply to them, so I think I did that for everyone who commented on my last chapter. If it didn't work, oh well. It's the thought that counts!

Disclaimer: A:TLA is way too cool to be owned by me. This is the sad truth.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you like this chapter. You find out a little more about Akari. ;D

With love,  
Rehyou ~

**P.S. I like reviews. ;)**

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Poison

"Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor.  
You get use to the weight, how it holds you in place."

-The Truth About Forever

"Uncle, what is wrong with her?" Zuko's voice sounds tight and pained. There is a quick shuffling of feet and then a crash followed by the sound of wood splintering.

"Please, Zuko! Calm down," Iroh pleads. He sounds the same, calm and in control. But there is an edge of panic to his voice that frightens her more than the crash. "Be careful with that chair; it is an antique."

"I don't give a damn!" Zuko is yelling now, but there is no banging noise this time. He softens his voice, most likely for his uncle's sake. "Haven't you found anything?"

Iroh sighs loudly. "I told you nephew, I have researched every book on the ship. There are many records of people getting hit with the tongue once. That causes temporary paralysis and very minor side effects. There are no records of anyone getting hit twice, much less three times. It is unheard of!" There is no answer, but Zuko must have a look that worries his uncle because Iroh feels the need to add, "I am sure she will be fine. This sickness, this slumber, it is just her body's way of dealing with toxin. It, like most things in life, will pass with time."

"How can you be so sure?" Zuko questions meekly. His voice sounds so frightened, so timid, that it reminds her faintly of a child.

"Zuko, do you really think she is the type to give up so easily?" Iroh chuckles.

"No," Zuko agrees slowly. After a moment he adds, "It's just she has been asleep for a week and—"

But Akari doesn't even hear the ending of his sentence. A whole week? The surprise makes her intake a large amount of air quickly. That wasn't a good idea because she struggles to inhale the mouthful of air she pulled in and gags for a moment.

"Akari!" His usually silent footsteps are loud and fumbling as he stumbles to her bedside. Her eyes aren't open because she can't figure out how to make her eyelids work, but she can tell he is there. She can feel his presence. How could she intake that lungful of air, but not be able to speak or see? This is crazy!

"Akari, can you hear me? Oh Agni, she probably can't speak. Akari, I'm holding your hand. Can you feel it?" _No. I can't feel a damn thing. _His voice is desperate, even in a whisper. She is aching to answer but her screaming thoughts go unheard.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He is whispering furiously to himself now; she can hear the frustration in his voice. "Where are you Uncle?" _Iroh left? Where did he go? _Suddenly, Zuko's tone lightens and becomes filled with…hope? "Akari, I don't know if you can feel me, but I am holding your hand. Are you awake? One squeeze for yes, two for no, well I guess if you aren't awake you won't squeeze at all—I know it is hard, but please, _please_ try."

Of course it is hard. She feels like nothingness, like some vast echo chamber filled only by the voices of others. She tries to remember what it is like to use the muscles in her hand, and wills with all her might to squeeze his hand.

But it is hard to control things that don't feel like they exist.

"Please, Akari," Zuko whispers fervently. They are two words, but they are enough to break her entirely.

_I'm trying Zuko. I am trying so hard. _The mental effort would be bringing tears to her eyes, but she doesn't even know if her body is capable of crying in this state. Her inside is kicking and screaming. She thought prison was torture. This…this is complete madness. At least there she could scream and kick and bend all she wanted. Who would have ever thought her body would become her biggest enemy? _I'm trying._

Suddenly he gasps. "Akari?" His voice is soft and filled with disbelief. Had she done it? Did he know she was there? To try and help him out, she stopped tugging on her invisible muscles, releasing herself back into the nothingness. He gasps once more.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Zuko is shouting at the top of his lungs; his voice echoing throughout her hollow body. "I think she squeezed my hand! Come quickly!"

There is a slight pause before the sound of the door slamming open fills the room—that and the sound of Iroh panting.

"Are you sure Zuko?" Iroh huffs. The sound of objects being set down on the floor follows his question.

"Yes, yes. I know she did. I know it. What do we do? What now?" Zuko's spit-fire questions are making her head spin. She wishes he would take it down a notch and just hold her; let her know he's there.

Akari is yearning for something to distract her, because in all this maddening emptiness, monsters are starting to creep out of the shadows. Their long claws are scraping against the walls of her mind and tearing at her sanity. The haunting memories from her nightmares are coming out to get her with a vengeance; the difference is that this is a nightmare she can't wake up from. Her inner-self is shrieking with fear, trying to find a way out of this prison—but that is a hard thing to do when the cell is her body.

"Calm down Zuko," Iroh pleads. He pauses. Perhaps he is going through all of the records he read on how to treat this sickness of the mind. He instructs Zuko, "Ask her if she is hot or cold."

Akari can feel him settle back down at her side. He doesn't make a sound this time but she can just tell. Then why can't she feel anything else?

"Akari, are you hot or cold? One squeeze for hot, two for cold," Zuko's voice is barely in control. She can sense the fear behind his cool façade.

_Just kill me now!_ Akari wants to scream at him, tell him to end her life now. She would take her wretched nightmares back in a heartbeat. Torture would be better than this. She knows how to deal with those. This is new territory—this is madness.

Still, she strains to find her invisible muscles once more. It only takes her a moment to decide that she is cold. She feels so alone and hollow and afraid, what else could she be? Squeezing his rough hand once was a chore; twice seems to be just beyond impossible. She tries so hard to squeeze once, twice, that she feels on the verge of fainting; which doesn't seem that bad of an idea right now. _Why did cold have to be twice?_

"Cold," Zuko announces faintly. "She's cold. What now, Uncle? What do we do?"

"Think Zuko!" Iroh sounds impatient, which is strangely out of character. If he is stressed out about this, should she be worried too? "I need to find the heating rocks. I think they are in some storage room, but we've never needed them before. I'll be back in fifteen minutes with the rocks."

_Zuko's bed?_ That means that she is in Zuko's room right now. She isn't sure why, but that strikes her. Akari hears the sound of fabric shuffling which she assumes is Zuko getting under the blanket with her. She doesn't care about that though. She just wants him to hold her and chase the advancing monsters away with his soft words.

"It's okay Akari. I'll keep you warm," He rasps gently. Of course he will have no trouble making her temperature rise. She has always found him to be warm, just like the sun. He is quiet for what seems to be a long time. After a moment he speaks, but it sound more like he is talking to himself than to her. "Remember that story you told me about that rock your father gave you? Well I loved it. It reminded me of you. You seem so rough and detached sometimes. But then there are always these moments, like when you told me why you don't stare at my scar, where I see your shining sun and I get to see who you really are."

_Really? That's funny, because I thought it reminded me of you. Of course I don't notice your scar. All I see is you; your golden eyes, your black hair, your passion, your heart…_

"I sometimes wish you would tell me more about yourself. I try to tell you things about me. Agni knows I try. But I think we both have trouble dealing with our past. I know you don't like to talk about it, but I really think if you did, maybe your nightmares would slow down. You need to come to terms with it and move on. Uncle tells me that all the time, and I know you think I'm a hypocrite for telling you to do what I refuse to do as well. But maybe…maybe we can work on it together?" He's rambling now and something else is happening inside her as well.

_I want to. I really do. But knowing what your father has done to my life will kill you. I know it will. I would rather deal with my nightmares than see the pain that is surely going to cross your face if I tell you. Your uncle loves you, do you know that? He loves you so much…_

Her body is beginning to fill with warmth. It trickles through her veins and flows throughout her whole being until all she can feel is the gentle warmth. With it comes the irresistible urge to sleep.

"You said you liked gold eyes. Then when I told you I like brown-green eyes, you thought I was patronizing you. I could tell. But it was the truth. I like yours especially because yours are always changing. They swirl with green and grey and all your emotions. You try so hard to hide them, but they are always right there in your eyes."

He continues, but his words are becoming fuzzy and she can't make them out any more. His voice fades until it is nothing more than the quietest murmur in the back of her mind. Everything is warm, but her mind panics without Zuko's voice. She is trapped once again, now all she can hear are her own thoughts. _NO. NO. NO!_ She is scrambling to find something to hold on to in her mind, some indication that reality exists. There is nothing, nothing at all.

Then the monsters grab her with razor claws and pull her into unconsciousness.

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Her eyes snap open to a world she never wishes she woke up to. That gentle warmth that had filled her body is now a terrible burning. She feels like she on fire. She is already screaming at the top of her lungs, her throat is becoming raw. She needs to escape. She tries to get up so that she can run as fast as she can away from the fire, but she can't move. And that is when she realizes that Zuko and Iroh are holding her down.

A venomous growl escapes her lips before she arches her back in pain.

They are shouting something as they try to hold down her bucking form, but the she can't hear them over the sounds of her screams.

The pain is pure agony. The fire isn't external, but internal. It runs through her veins and blinds her to anything else. Her howling is temporarily softened when she sees the boy staring at her with those golden eyes.

Now she is screaming at him to kill her. Anything is better than this. Akari _begs_ him to end her life, saying that if he really gives a damn about her he will end it now.

But he just shakes his head.

She can't tell that she is crying until the hot tears trickle into her shrieking mouth. Anger as hot as the venom pulsing through her fills her very being. _Do they want to torture me? Do they like my pain? Damn it, why won't they end this? Damn them all!_

Strings of curses spill out of her mouth, aimed at everybody and nobody at the same time. Red spots begin to fill her vision, and for a moment she wonders if this is what it is like to go insane. Another pair of hands helps to hold her down, and suddenly she can see Zuko's face behind her blotchy vision.

His rough hand pries open her jaw and pours some foul liquid down her throat. It tastes like ass. She tries to spit it out, but he clamps his hand on her mouth. No matter how much she squirms and kicks, his grip remains strong. Then he takes his free hand and tilts her head back, causing the liquid to begin draining down her throat.

Somehow, Akari has managed to free her arms. She is clawing at his hands, but he doesn't move them; he doesn't even flinch. She screams in frustration and more tears spill down her cheeks because this drink will make her pass out—and that isn't what she wants.

Her whole burning soul yearns for something more permanent than that.

Slowly, so agonizingly slowly, her mind slips closer and closer to unconsciousness. Still, her body burns on. She loses control of her body once more and her spasms stop. Akari can barely make out the outline of Zuko's figure, still hovering near her.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. He repeats this a few more times before the last of her fury consumes her.

"You burn in hell and tell me if 'sorry' means a damn thing to you."

She's hurt him, she can tell. It doesn't matter to her now. So what if none of this is his fault? So what if it had been him begging her to kill him, she wouldn't have been able to too? Akari has never been rational, and that certainly does not apply now.

The drink finally consumes her; pulling her into an all-too-temporary sleep.

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The burning pain is back again, only this time it is focused on the left half of her back and her left shoulder. The raw agony is so intense that she wouldn't be surprised if her skin was charred and black because of the fire that is surely gnawing at her back.

Akari opens her mouth to scream, but no cries come out—which is probably fitting since there is no sound that could truly capture this agony.

She snaps her eyes open and finds that she is on her side, curled up in the fetal position. All she has to do is look at the rock platform and see the wooden stands to know exactly where she is; she is in the Fire Nation Palace. More specifically, she is curled up on the ground of the Royal Stadium.

_Oh Agni, no. Please no._

A terrible, cackling laughter echoes throughout the stadium, sending a series of shivers down her spine and filling her heart with sheer terror. She would know that laugh anywhere; it is the one that haunts her dreams, day and night.

"A deal is a deal," the voice hisses mockingly. She tries to stay strong, because the last thing she wants to do is look weak. But the simple sound of that voice causes a choked sob to escape her lips and tremors to rack her body.

Akari is on her hands and knees now, trying to avoid looking at the corner of the arena. Her head is slowly turning up to look in that direction. She sees two figures—a slight woman and a burly man. They are as white as sheets, but when her father sees her looking at him, he pulls on a small smile.

That is all it took to unravel her. She quickly turns her head away and gasping sobs erupt from her body.

Invisible puppet strings begin to take over her body. Somehow, despite the intense pain raking at her shoulder, Akari slowly gets up. Her knees are shaking violently as she makes her way over to the couple. Nothing feels real, but the terrible fact is that this is reality. She comes to a stop ten feet away from her mother.

Her mother is the first one to speak.

"Oh Ari, darling," she croons, turning her head to one side. Her parents' old nickname for rips at her strong bravado and makes her breathing grow haggard.

"Momma, I don't want to. I—I really don't," Akari manages to choke out. Her hands are shaking violently now and heart threatens to beat right out of her chest.

Her mother smiles tenderly at her, causing her to cry even harder. The woman's brown eyes are filled to the brim with compassion and ceaseless love. "Why don't you hate me?" Akari whispers in a trembling voice to herself so her mother can't hear. "You should hate me."

"Baby, I know you don't. I know. But this is what's best. Please honey, don't cry." Her mother stretches out her hand as if to wipe away her tears.

That is when Akari shoots her in the heart.

The form is alien to her; she doesn't know where she learned it from. But as her mother convulses on the ground it is Akari's finger tips that the smoke comes from. Akari's hand immediately flies to her mouth, whether it is to keep herself screaming, crying, or puking she isn't sure. Her knees give out and she is rocking on the ground with her arms wrapped around herself and her head buried in between her knees, trying to hold together what is left of her being.

The sobs that rack her body remind her of convulsions, which reminds her of her mother. Akari can hardly breathe the pain is so great, but the puppet strings are already pulling her back onto her feet. There is still one more left.

She sees her father kneeling next to the body. He is pressing the hand of his lifeless lover to his lips, crying. Her father never cries. But when he sees her rise, he stands up and squares his shoulders.

Oh, her father—her strong, proud father.

Akari is trembling so violently now. She can hear her bones rattling inside of her. He seems to be waiting for her to say something, but she can't find any words. How could she? The moment speech seems to flutter back into her control; all she has to do is look at the body lying at her father's feet to know why she cannot speak.

Instead she reaches a shaking hand to the cord around her neck and encloses the cheap metal in her trembling fist.

He smiles a tiny, sweet smile. Her father, even now, seems so strong and brave. But she could easily find the sadness twisted in his brown-green eyes and the pain in his smile. Her heart started to break.

"I am _so _proud of you," he whispers. His voice is trembling, but behind the shaky words the truth was laid out for her to see. He did love her. He was proud of her. He didn't regret a thing. It was so like him to keep his farewell simple and sweet; the real meaning hidden deep within.

He studied the trembling, sobbing, wreck that was his daughter for a few more moments. The lump in her throat grew with trepidation at what she was going to have to do next. The he took his left hand, touched the fingers to his lips, reached the hand out towards her, and mouthed the words _I love you._

A jabbing pain exploded in her chest. Her heart was completely, totally, and irrevocably shattered.

"I love you too, Dad."

Then the mind-numbing lightning somehow flew from her fingertips and extinguished the light of the most honest soul in the world.

Akari couldn't even look at the body. She fell to the ground and curled into a ball. Her voice managed to find its way back to her and was screaming in such a way that anybody could tell it came from a girl who just lost her entire world. She never wanted so badly to die as she did in that moment. The gaping hole where her heart had once been sucks up anything that makes her who she is—leaving behind a hollow, screaming girl with the blood of her parents on her hands.

Men are dragging her away, vaguely reminding her of the burn that engulfs half of her torso. But it doesn't matter. Nothing does.

"Why did you do this to them? Why did you have to include them in your sick, twisted joke? I hope you're happy, you bastard!" Her screams and cries continue, but she can't tell if she is yelling at herself or the man who caused this all to happen.

She is thrown into a huge, golden birdcage.

Then the golden bars transform into golden eyes.

...

Akari's eyes fly open. The first thing she sees are the golden eyes hovering above her face. A scream escapes her as she shoves the person back with all her might. Akari scrambles up out of the bed, stumbling as the blanket twists around her feet. Her eyes scramble for a way out, but this room isn't familiar. Terribly disoriented, she slowly backs up until her back is pressed against the chilling wall. Her body is drenched in sweat and the tears that are still flowing from her eyes.

She barely registers a concerned Iroh lurking in the corner and a surprised Zuko trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with her.

That dream tore at her heart and brought forward the memories she had been trying to hide more than the others, because they were the most painful. The reason that dream hurt so much was because everything was true—everything except for the lightning. She hadn't shot the lightning into her parents' hearts. She hadn't even laid a hand on them. Fire Lord Ozai had killed them. The lightning had flown from his fingertips. But the message rang loud and clear.

It was her fault.

New sobs racked her body as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold herself together.

"It's my fault. It's my fault. It's all my fault," Akari whispered through her teeth. Her knees were trembling—threatening to give out beneath at any moment. She pressed herself closer against the cold wall, trying to disappear. Her chanting continued, "It's all my fault. It's my fault."

Zuko glanced at his uncle who was seemingly in a stupor and offered no advice. She didn't notice as he cautiously stepped forward until his hand rested on her shoulder. Akari fell silent and snapped her head around to stare at it.

"Akari," Zuko said delicately, "I'm sure whatever it is you are worried about was not your fau—"

He was cut off as she slapped his hand off her shoulder and pushed him back with a jab to his chest.

"It's my fault!" Akari was screaming at him, her clawed hands tearing at her hair. "I killed them Zuko! It's all my fault! I couldn't save them! Now they are dead because of me! I killed them! I killed them—" Her voice broke as another sob consumed her.

The seizure of emotions that burned at her was so great that her knees finally gave out. Akari slid down onto the floor, burying her head into her hands. She wept silently as she let the all too familiar feelings of grief and pain isolate her from the world. The only other thing she was aware of was the throbbing pain in her left half of her torso—that, and one other person.

Zuko didn't try to hold her, he didn't tell her it wasn't her fault; he didn't say a word. That meant more to her than any touch or insincere words. He slid down onto the floor next to her, his body barely pressing against hers, and stayed like that until exhaustion pulled her under.

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**Baby AN:**

The dream about Akari's parents was really hard for me to write. Not in the lacking-ideas way, but more in an emotional way. I don't know why, I just kept thinking what it would be like if it were my parents. But, anyways, I hope I did alright with it. :)


	11. Chapter 11 Weapon of Choice

**Oh hey (:**

I'm sorry this took so long. I've been very busy.  
Anywho, thanks for the reviews. You da you da best. ;D

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA. You all know what I'm asking for my birthday. ^^

Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Love yaaa,

~Rehyou

P.S. **REVIEW :3**

P.S.S. (idk if that is even legit) Read my baby an. It'll be at the end of the chapter. Gracias.

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Weapon of Choice

"Experience: the most brutal of teachers.  
But you learn, my God do you learn."  
-C.S. Lewis

Akari recovered slowly in the physical and mental sense. She spent a few days recovering in, what was in fact, Zuko's room. She found out from Iroh that she had been out of it for two weeks during the worst of her illness. Zuko grudgingly informed her there hadn't been sign of the Avatar for awhile; Zuko feared he had gone North. Apparently there was a lack of guest rooms on the vessel, because the young prince opted to sleep on the floor. She tried to tell him that she would sleep on the floor or go back to her cell, and he could have his bed back. Iroh and Zuko both shot that idea down so fast she hardly had time to blink. She felt bad for two reasons. One, this was _his_ room. He should be sleeping on _his_ bed. Not on the floor in a pile of blankets and pillows that she added to each night when he wasn't looking. Two, her nightmares were back with a vengeance. It seemed that now that the worst had occurred (reliving her parents' deaths), her sanity was now fair game.

Every night, without fail, she would wake up drenched in sweat or pounding on the wall to his voice and hand. From there he would either curl back up into his blanket burrow or pass out on the bed while she stayed up the rest of the night.

Tonight was such a night. He had saved her from the pain of watching faces of people she knew flash across her vision; dead. The Avatar, Ponytail, Water-girl, Kane, Rei, Mother, Father, Iroh, and Zuko flipped through her mind in quick succession again and again. It reminded her of when her father would tell her to blink as fast as she could while he made different faces at her. Akari heard her name called three times before she stumbled out of her dreams. She shot straight up, knocking heads with him in the process.

Zuko swore under his breath and tenderly rubbed his forehead. He raised his eyebrows questioningly at her. He never asked her if she was okay. They both knew the answer to that.

Akari waved her hand absently, dismissing his concerns. She sat up straight and pressed her back against the headboard (the wall) and worked to avoid his gaze and the remains of her dream.

She felt him study her for a few more moments before a groan escaped him. He muttered something about "brown-green eyes" before belly-flopping onto the bed. Akari felt a small smile tug at her lips. Zuko had picked up a habit of resorting to yelling about gold and brown-green eyes and rocks and rings whenever she disagreed with him or was winning an argument. She feigned that he was off his rocker and she had no idea what he was talking about. That wasn't necessarily true. The details were _very _fuzzy, but she remembered enough to know it was better for her pride if lied about remembering.

She spent the next few hours switching between watching the shadows cast by the torches dance across the walls and shamelessly tracing the contours of his body with her eyes.

Zuko was still sprawled across her—_his_ bed. He didn't really fit though. His head was resting near her hip. His arms were curled against his chest in a poor attempt to keep his torso on the bed. His hips had somehow managed to worm their way on as well, but his legs were sprawled out on the floor. Akari smiled sleepily at the ridiculous sight.

The black of night slowly began to fade until the palest of lights found its way into the room as the moon reluctantly began to give way to the sun. Akari guessed it was around four, maybe five in the morning. Her eyes narrowed at Zuko's frame. The once soft sound of his breathing had become more ragged and hasty. His hands trembled slightly and she could see his eyes flicking back and forth under their lids. A cold sweat shone on his brow. His scar was hidden from her view, and all she could see was the porcelain skin of his unscathed half. He looked so young. So innocent.

It dawned on her that he was having a nightmare of his own; it pulled at her heart strings to think of what he could be seeing in his mind's eye. Akari stretched her left hand across her body and tentatively laid it under the side of his jaw, ignoring her own scar's protests in the process. The only response to her touch was a shiver.

"Zuko?" Akari whispered. No response. "Zuko. Zuko!"

The golden eyes snapped open so quickly that she flinched back from him. His eyes seemed alert, but they were darting around so quickly that she wondered if he was actually seeing anything. She took a hold of his chin. His eyes locked in on her hers. Then his hands pulled at her arm, vaguely reminding her of when she clawed his arm when she burning.

"Zuko, it's just a dream. Go back to sleep. Close your eyes." He seemed to be listening because his hands were now just holding onto her arm instead of trying to rip the skin off. His eyes seemed to be begging for her to continue. "Dream a nice dream. Dream about fireflies and cherry trees and tea and turtle-ducks—"

All of the sudden his eyes grew wide with anguish and his nails dug into her arm. Who knew turtle-ducks could cause such a violent response?

"Okay! Okay!" Akari said quickly. "Don't dream about those. Just close your eyes and go back to bed. Morning will come soon."

She didn't say anything else; instead she rested her hand along his jaw and guided his head back down against the mattress. She watched as he slowly fell back to sleep in stages: stop digging his nails into her skin, let go her arm, watch her watching him, lids droop, eyes close, breathe softly.

The knot in her throat loosened when she saw his drift into a peaceful state. Anxiety was replaced by warmth that was much different from the one that engulfed her a few days ago. It coursed throughout her veins and made her feel like butterfly-moths were brushing her body with their wings. Akari reveled in the sensation for a few moments before the actually implications hit her. She quickly and quietly removed herself from the bed. She snuck soundlessly out the door and the broke into a run.

She didn't stay long enough to hear him mutter her name in his sleep.

Akari ran blindly throughout the halls, her footsteps padding silently on the metal flooring. She had no idea where she was going, but it felt exhilarating to follow her instinct and just run. Eventually, a familiar door, although similar to all the others, came into sight. She entered her room and collapsed against the wall outside her cell, her chest heaving violently.

She stared into the cell. _"I am a prisoner. That is my home. The bars and my mind are my only companions. The only people who care about me are the crew; that is just because this wish I would die already so they can have bigger portioned meals. He is my captor…my acquaintance…a friend at the very best…nothing more. He is a prince. I am not worthy to clean his feet. He has royal blood in his veins. I have blood tainted by coal dust. He is the son of the Fire Lord. I am the daughter of a miner…"_

Akari continued to reprimand herself with lies about her feelings and the truth about the facts.

She continued chanting in her mind for hours. Nobody came to find her. Nobody came to feed her. So she stayed wrapped in her own arms, staring at the light flittering in from the sun. It wasn't until around noon that Iroh entered. He ignored her state and acted as if she huddling outside her cell blankly staring into space was an everyday occurrence.

"Come with me," he beckoned politely.

After a moment she unfurled from her position and followed Iroh out the door. He had to keep stopping to wait for her. Her muscles felt as if she hadn't walked for ages—which she hadn't.

"It is just the poison finishing clearing out of your system," Iroh offered gently. "The more you exercise the better you'll feel."

Akari huffed in response.

He navigated them expertly to through the ship. To her surprise, he led them up onto the deck. Akari blinked rapidly, momentarily blinded by the sunlight. Once her vision adjusted, she saw Zuko. He was standing on the middle of the dock, flames dancing from his fingertips and jutting out from his feet. He was moving so quickly and with so much grace that he appeared to be a mere blur at times. He also had no shirt on.

_Is that really necessary?_

Zuko was so absorbed in his form that he didn't seem to realize they arrived. Iroh motioned for her to follow him to the two seats that had been brought up.

"Let him finish his form," Iroh muttered as he shuffled over and plopped down in the chair, folding his hand across his belly.

Akari sat down next to him. She propped her elbows up on her knees and rested her head on her hands, leaning forward. She studied him intently, watching as the flames twisted around him and he shifted from move to move. It wasn't flowing, but somehow it was all continuous and connected. The more he continued, the larger the knot in her throat grew. It was so plainly obvious to her that he was an extremely well-learned fire bender. By her standards, he was more than worthy of being his family's prodigy. Disgruntled, she turned to Iroh.

"Iroh, why does Ozai say that I am the greatest fire bender?" Akari asked. It was a question that was always gnawing at the back of her mind. It made even less sense as she watched Zuko perform.

"Ah," Iroh began. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that." His eyes stayed trained on his nephew as he spoke to her. "There are a few theories. One is that Ozai labeled you as such because he sees you as a threat…Do you realize that you are most likely the only fire bender to be taught fire bending without being under the Fire Nation's control?"

"I—uh, what do you mean?"

"Most wealthy families send their child with bending abilities to academies or enroll them into the Fire Nation Army. In poorer towns, my brother has a habit of sniffing out benders and drafting them into armies with promises of riches and safety. There, they are taught how to use anger to feed their power and have undying loyalty to the Fire Lord forced upon them." There was a slight edge of bitterness in his voice.

"I get that, but how does that make me dangerous?"

Iroh chuckled heartily. "Child, don't you see? You do not align your loyalties with my brother. This is proven by the fact that you are a prisoner on our ship and every time you work to free the Avatar. You also do not derive your power from anger and hatred. Maybe you do not know where the source comes from. Perhaps it is love or passion. And every decent man knows that love conquers all. That is why you are dangerous."

It was a lot to take in. She didn't feel powerful. Especially as she watched Zuko perform moves she had only dreamed of doing. And if she was so damn powerful, why hadn't she been able to save her parents? After a moment, Akari noticed that Iroh kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. It was as if he had more to say. Akari decided to humor him.

"But what do you think?"

A grin spread across his face and he leaned over to her. "I think that it is your potential that makes you great. It is not only your potential as a fire bender, but your drive to change the world."

Akari was about to answer, but Zuko strode over, completely distracting her. His chest was heaving from exertion; his torso glistening with sweat. For the first time in her life, she was finding it difficult to look him in the eye. Perhaps he was self-conscious as well, because he crossed his arms over his chest—not that adding muscular arms to the picture helped her focus any better. His golden eyes flickered to his uncle before settling on her.

"I have a proposition for you."

Akari raised her eyebrow at him, eyes dancing.

"I want you to train with me," Zuko said. It sounded more like a command than an offer.

"Wha—Why?" Akari stumbled over her words.

"Well," Zuko began, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was hoping you could help me with my fire bending." His eyes fluttered to his uncle, who Akari could have sworn gave a nod of encouragement.

"How could I help you? I don't even know the first thing about teaching fire bending!" Akari cried, outraged at their plot.

"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Zuko smirked, although there was an edge of impatience in his voice.

Akari considered it for a moment. She could say no, but she had a feeling that wouldn't fly so well. "What's in it for me?"

Zuko sighed and muttered something about her being selfish. He interrupted her before she could comment on that. "I could teach you hand to hand combat." After a moment's hesitation he added, "And I could teach you how to use another weapon."

This caught her attention. She had never had proper fire bending instruction, let alone guidance in any other form of combat. What if, for some reason, she got in a situation where she couldn't use fire bending? What would she do then? Probably run, but that wouldn't get her too far. The only things that have kept her alive so far are bending and instincts—and she had just scraped by.

"Fine," Akari consented.

He wiped his hand on his pants before offering it to her. She shook his warm grip and shook his hand, both of them holding on a moment longer than necessary.

Akari kicked off her aged, leather boots and followed Zuko out to the middle of the dock. Abruptly, he turned around to face her.

"How many forms do you know?"

"None."

"None?" Zuko exclaimed, hardly hiding his shock.

Akari shrugged in response, though her cheeks flushed slightly out of shame.

He considered her for a moment, then pushed her backs a few steps and faced her. "Just copy my movements."

Akari nodded and he began.

It was harder than she had thought it would be. Not because she couldn't pick up on the moves, but because she seemed to be flowing through them wrong. His moves were very pointed and punctual—each one separate from the other. Her movements were just as precise, just as powerful, and just as deadly. But they flowed in such a way that there was hardly a moment between one move and the next.

After a few rounds, once she had the form memorized, he stopped her.

"I am going to watch. You continue once more." He walked away and stood behind his uncle, brow furrowed.

Akari's muscles were beginning to ache, her scar was burning more than its usual thud, and her brow was starting to drip with sweat. Despite this, she was engulfed with the absolute feeling of living. Unconscious of her audience, she stood with her face tilted to the sky, basking in its warmth. She took deep breaths, feeling nothing but the sensation of air entering and leaving her lungs and sunlight warming her skin.

And so she began to dance to her heart's song.

She lunged forward, punching the air as fire shot from her fist. Quickly she jumped, turning as she did. She landed low, simultaneously stretching one leg out and jutting fire from the side of her foot. She rose in one fluid movement, beginning a series of kicks and punches and twists as the form called for. Akari continued through the movements of the form with so much passion and energy that she could feel the flames burning her finger tips. The world was moving so quickly across her vision, yet it had never seemed clearer.

She went through the motions with such fluid grace that when she stopped, everything seemed very quiet and still. Her chest was heaving, but a grin was lighting up her face.

Akari had completely forgotten she was being watched until she heard clapping. She turned around and saw Iroh clapping, a small smile on his face. Zuko was just standing with his unscarred eye opened wide. After a moment, he strode over to her.

"Still think I can teach you something?" Akari panted, still smiling.

Zuko blinked, his head nodding slightly. He didn't answer any further; he just kept staring at her. Akari shifted nervously under his gaze.

"Uh, why are you looking at me like that? You're creepin' me out." Akari glanced from her feet to his eyes, pointedly avoiding his bare chest.

"Nothing," Zuko said quickly, dismissing her question with a wave of his hand. She could have sworn he flushed slightly. "Are you ready for hand to hand combat?"

Akari nodded.

"Okay. There are a few things you have to remember," Zuko began, pacing in front of her. "The trick is to use your opponent's momentum against them. That works especially well if your opponent is bigger or stronger than you. Also, it's not about over powering the other person. It is about being quick and patient. Uncle always has to remind me of that. My temper gets in the way. But you have to remember it is about anticipating your opponent's move. Got that?"

"I—I think so…?"

Zuko stopped pacing and shrugged at her. "Practice makes perfect."

With that he threw a punch that hit her square in the gut. She doubled over as the air violently left her.

"You always have to be prepared. Expect the unexpected!" Zuko reprimanded.

Zuko aimed a fist at her shoulder, but where he expected it to make contact with flesh, it hit open air. Akari twisted out of the way at the last moment, still struggling to catch her breath. Zuko lurched forward, this time with a kick destined for her knee. At the same moment, Akari stepped back just enough for the attack to miss.

As she braced her arm against his to keep him from landing on another punch on her, he grinned. "Good!"

They continued as their fighting turning more into a dance as she stepped back and moved in synchronization to avoid his blows. She stumbled once or twice, but quickly she found herself adapting to his fighting style. Soon, his moves became more and more predictable.

"Is that all you're going to do? Dance and dodge. I don't know why, but I thought you'd be better than that," Zuko growled tauntingly.

He was playing with her emotions, she knew that. But her rational was overridden by her instinct. Akari took the offense, every now and then causing Zuko to be the one to take a step back or dodge an attack. She was drenched in sweat now, but her efforts were in vain. Every blow she dealt was blocked. Desperate to land a hit, Akari lunged forward. He easily swept her aside and punched her in the left shoulder.

Her scar had been an intense ache throughout this whole process. Now, a burning pain ricocheted throughout her back and shoulder. Akari let out a small cry of pain and clutched onto her shoulder. She doubled over, gasping in pain.

All she could see were Zuko's feet, shuffling uneasily.

"Akari, are you alright? I didn't mean to. I completely forgot…"

Akari grunted in response. She straightened out, still holding on to her shoulder. He paused for a moment, considering her.

"I am going to get some different weapons to try out. Stay here…okay?" Zuko studied her for a moment more before trotting off and disappearing out of sight.

Akari glanced over and saw Iroh with his eyebrows raised and an interesting look slapped across his face. She rolled her eyes before sitting down on the ground, watching the sky pass overhead. Her body was aching all over, and her clothes stuck to her like a second skin. She made a mental note to take off her long sleeves before doing this tomorrow.

Zuko returned with his arms over-flowing with different weapons. He sat down in front of her and spilled out the contents of his arms next to him.

"I brought a bunch of different types of weapons—long range, short range, hand to hand combat. I figure you can pick a type today and tomorrow we can get more specific," Zuko said. It seemed like he was avoiding her gaze.

"Alright."

Zuko nodded and began shifting through the pile. As he did, he caught her eye. "When you got into sticky situations and you didn't want to bend, what did you do?" He asked tentatively. He felt the need to add, "Just wonderin'."

Akari avoided his golden eyes and stared at the floor in front of her. "Run," she muttered.

The clanking of metal paused for a moment before resuming once more. He laid out a small sheath in between them. When he pulled out the sword, she was surprised to see not one, but two blades.

"This is a butterfly sword," Zuko said, handing them to her. She took one in each hand, experimenting with how the sunlight reflected off the blade. "They are about the length of a forearm, which makes them easy to hide. They also have a cross guard to protect the back of your hand." He leaned forward and ran his fingers along the metal part, his fingertips brushing her skin.

After a moment he took the swords back and moved them to his other side. Next he dropped a pile of chains in front of her. They were brown and slightly rusted with a small weight on each side.

"You can use this to tangle someone by throwing it around their ankles or arms. Or it can just be a weapon—hitting somebody in the face with a metal chain hurts."

Akari ran her finger along one of the chain links. Wouldn't it be funny if she, the girl who had been a prisoner for far too long, wielded chains? She smiled half-heartedly. "Ironic, isn't it?"

Zuko nodded unsmilingly before moving the chain next to the sword. Then he pulled out a staff. It was a simple, slightly crooked length of wood. It seemed to be a little taller than her, appearing to be six feet long.

"Obviously, this is a staff. It seems simple, but with proper training, it can be the best weapon. Many use it because it can also be used to walk, carry loads, pitch tents, and other practical things."

The simplicity appealed to her; especially because she could always have it with her without being questioned. Zuko set it aside and then pulled out two strange looking metal objects. Each had five holes and two metal bridges above them

"These, are brass knuckles. We'll probably work with these anyway because they are so useful. So don't pick them. Your fingers go here…" He took her hand and slid each finger into one of the five holes before gently closing her hand into a fist. Akari struggled to ignore the warmth that rose in her chest. "This bridge," Zuko pointed to the metal piece that lay right across her knuckles, "absorbs most of the impact so that it doesn't damage your fingers. This one," Zuko touched the bridge that was a few inches away from her knuckles, "is the one that does all the damage. It makes the contact when you punch."

Akari studied them, thinking how useful it would be. A normal punch would be much more damaging. She slid the one brass knuckle off and handed it to Zuko. Finally, he laid out a single hammer. It was very simple. The head was about as wide as her two fists put together. It reminded her of her father from his mining and dabbling in welding. She tested it in her hand. It was heavy, but it would in no way be a burden to carry.

"That's a hammer," He struggled to ignore the sarcastic look she shot his way. "Again, it is another simple and deadly weapon. Most people who use hammers do wield them incorrectly. They think you can just run around, swinging it like a mad man and knock off everybody's head. But it is really about speed and precision. An accurate blow can be instantly fatal."

She returned the handle and studied the available weapons: butterfly sword, chains, staff, and hammer. Akari was at a loss of which one to pick.

"Can I just choose tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure." He didn't make a move to gather the things and leave.

"Do you really think I can help you with fire bending?" Akari asked tentatively. She still didn't believe it.

"Yes… I think so. It seems to come so naturally to you and the way you bend is so different. It isn't rigid and rehearsed, it's so alien to me…but at the same time, it is just as powerful, if not stronger, than any bending I've seen," Zuko rasped.

"But I can't teach you intuition!" Akari cried, raising her arms. "I hardly know what I'm doing! How am I going to teach you? You are the _prince_. You've been trained since you were little. I don't understand what I can offer."

"Don't you understand? That is the problem! I've been trained. I've had my share of real life experiences, but you…all of your fire bending career has been experience. You know a lot more than you think you do," Zuko retaliated. Irritation was hidden in the depths of his voice.

"No! The real problem is that I _haven't_ been trained. I don't know anything. My fire bending is loose in form. I don't know why it's strong in moments, but I know that all I've had is situations to teach me. I've never had a real master! I don't know any forms or anything!"

Zuko was shouting now too, his frustration washing over her. "That's what makes your bending unique! It hasn't been tampered with or forced to fit a set code. That is what makes you strong. Experience is the best teacher! Not being cooped up in some stuffy palace while an old kook tries to teach you what the real world is like!"

"Experience? I never have a clue what I'm doing when I have 'experiences'! My instinct and emotions just take over—"

"When will you see yourself clearly?" Zuko shouted at her, his voice cracking slightly. They were both breathing deeply, staring at each other with narrow eyes. After a tense moment he threw his hands up in defeat and muttered, "You're impossible." With that he gathered up all the weapons and stormed off the deck.

Akari groaned and flopped onto her back. He was crazy. When they disagreed like this, she always felt torn between punching his face and reaching out to hold him. She knew in her heart he was right. The experiences she had have made her the bender she is today. But it seemed so absurd that she, an untrained prisoner, could have something to teach to a prince. Yet, in the back of her mind she was cursing herself for screwing up whatever was between them again. He just frustrated her so much and her emotions always got in the way of her common sense.

Suddenly, Iroh was staring down at her, a peculiar look on his face.

"What?" Akari snapped.

"Nothing, nothing." Iroh said quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. The stupid grin on his face said otherwise.

Iroh led her back to her room, smiling and chuckling to himself the whole way. She was glad when he left her in the cell. She collapsed onto her cot, exhaustion immediately taking over. Sleep quickly pulled her under. Although she had a nightmare, her mind seemed too tired to think of something absolutely terrible. That night passed as the first one in a long time where Zuko didn't have to rescue her from herself.

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**Baby Author's Note**

So if you have an opinion on which weapon Akari should choice, leave a review about it. If enough people pick one and there are good reasons for it, I'll most likely pick that one. Otherwise I'm going to have to pick, and I am not sure what I think she should have.

Cha. Review about it people! ;D


	12. Chapter 12 Sting Like a Bee

**Hiiii. :)**

Okay. I know it's been like, a zillion years since I put up a chapter. So I will of course start off by saying that I am infinetly sorry. I appologize from the bottom of my heart.  
And now from this point forward, we are going to assume that I start off every AN by getting down on my knees and begging for your forgiveness. Okay?

Thank you all for your reviews/reviews concerning the weapon. There seemed to be two favorites and then I picked from those two. :)

On another note, how was your holidays? Good? Excellent.

Disclaimer: Own A:TLA, I do not.

Love you all,

~Rehyou

P.S. **Review, por favor. ;D**

P.P.S. I was informed that it is indeed, P.P.S. not P.S.S. Learn something new everyday, amirite? XD

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Sting Like a Bee

"That which does not kill us  
makes us stronger."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Akari woke up in a jumble of pleasure and disappointment. On the plus side, she had slept all through the night, even if it had been a bit restless, and Zuko didn't have to save her. On the down side, Zuko didn't have to save her. It seemed strange, wrong, that Zuko hadn't been there when she awoke. It twisted her stomach in a weird way.

She pushed those thoughts away and busied herself with thinking about her new weapon. Just the thought of it sent excitement pulsing through her. Each weapon was, without a doubt, admirable in its own way. Yesterday she had no idea how she was going to pick one. But after a decent night's sleep and waking up to find it disturbing that Zuko was missing, the choice was obvious.

Her anxious mind did not have to wait long. Around noon Iroh shuffled into her room and unlocked the cell with a smile. Akari followed him out onto the deck where Zuko was waiting. Iroh took his seat on a chair while Akari followed Zuko towards the center of the deck. As they walked, he pulled off his shirt and tossed it carelessly to the side so she was now looking at his bare back.

Once again Akari suppressed a groan. It was absolutely unnecessary and not to mention a _bit _distracting. Before thinking about what she was doing, Akari pulled off her own red tunic and threw it on top of his; leaving her in her leggings and a loose tank top that revealed the portion of her scar on her shoulder but hid the part on her back. Behind her she heard Iroh struggling to hide his laughter.

Akari got an uncanny amount of enjoyment out of Zuko's facial expression when he turned around to face her. He didn't look at her scar. Actually, he stared very pointedly in her eyes. She rolled her eyes. There was really no need for that; she isn't exactly the curviest girl.

"It's hot," Akari said defiantly.

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

"New form," he muttered as he got into fire bending stance.

Akari allowed a small smile to form on her lips as she copied him.

The new form was much more controlling than the other one. It called for very deliberate, slow movements. She picked it up after going through it one time. Zuko did it twice more with her before stepping aside to stand by his uncle and watch. Akari continued with the form, tediously going through the motions. Half way through she got bored and frustrated with the form.

_Screw it._

She bent at will; tentatively pushing herself to the limit for the first time in a long, long time. Time quickly lost meaning. It could have been minutes or hours or days since she had come on deck. She wouldn't know or care. But somewhere in all of this she became aware of whispering. Akari stopped abruptly and turned to see Iroh muttering to an attentive Zuko while he pointed at her.

Puzzled and a little annoyed, Akari walked over at sat on the ground in front of them with her legs sprawled out and her chest heaving.

"Akari, have you ever tried controlling the temperature of your fire?" Iroh asked. When Akari stared blankly at him, he dumbed it down for her. "Have you ever bent fire of a different color?"

Instantaneously painful memories surfaced: fighting the soldiers when her town was being attacked, on a boat surrounded by soldiers, her first Agni Kai. Akari gently touched her hand to her head. She dared a glimpse at Zuko and wished right away she hadn't. Her entourage of memories had not gone unnoticed by him.

"Yes." Both Iroh and Zuko looked surprised. "But I didn't know how I was doing it. I-It was during very…emotional situations. And the color was never constant; sometimes it was blue or gold or pure white."

To her surprise, Iroh chuckled. "You are, perhaps, even more driven by emotion than my nephew."

If he had anything else to add to the subject, he didn't say. Iroh leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his belly, studying the sky. Zuko took her by the wrist and pulled her away from his uncle.

"I figured we could skip hand-to-hand combat today," Zuko said. For the first time today, his eyes left her face and traveled down her arms that were adorned with a few bruises. Although she was irritated that he thought she was too weak to fight, Akari nodded—she just wanted to get started with the weapon.

"So, I'll go get the weapons and then you can pick—"

"Unnecessary," Akari interrupted. "I know which one I want."

Zuko raised his eyebrows and a curious expression shifted over his features. "Which one?"

"The butterfly sword," Akari announced confidently.

Akari was sure this was the right choice. It suited her; she could just tell. They were everything she hoped her fighting style could be. They were elegant, beautiful, and terribly deadly. The swords seemed graceful and fluid as well, so hopefully it would work well with her bending. There was another, perhaps, stranger reason. Akari had seen Zuko's dao blades hanging in his room. Not to mention Iroh had once let it slipped that Zuko was a master of them when he had been delivering tea to her one evening. The butterfly swords reminded her of him.

Not only that, it was a reminder to him of how similar they are, but how differently they operate.

She wondered if he had thought of any of this when he nodded and mumbled, "Good choice."

Zuko disappeared within the ship but returned quickly. When he came back, he was not only carrying the sheath that contained her butterfly swords, but also his long dao blades. Apparently Akari was going to have the honor of seeing a master at work.

Zuko took one blade in each hand and Akari copied the action.

"You can't think of them as two different weapons, because they're not. They are simply two parts of the same whole." Zuko spun the blades around him, each one a perfect mirror of the other's movements. He sheathed them once more in one fluid movement, and then he said in a measured tone, "Our weapons are similar, yet they are handled a little differently. But that concept is the same for both of them."

Akari studied him for a moment. "Am I learning by experience again?"

A mischievous smile crept across his face. "Yup."

With that he unsheathed his dao swords faster than she could blink and struck out at her in quick succession. Akari was expecting it this time, plus her swords were already unsheathed. She blocked each one with such force that Zuko staggered back a step. Using the blades came naturally to her. A smile tugged at her lips as she stepped forward, not allowing Zuko any time to recover—he was a master after all.

They continued their duel for a long time. Every now and then Zuko would remind her that her blades were one weapon; not two. But besides that he didn't seem to have much more to say. He was holding back on her, she could tell. He was letting her experiment. With every movement she gained confidence in her choice. Every now and then she would toss in a little fire bending, but primarily focused on her fighting strategy itself.

Soon enough, it felt like she had been wielding the weapon her whole life.

"Don't hold back on me," Akari challenged through barred teeth as their swords clanged together.

The corner of his mouth flicked up into a smile. "As you wish."

He spun his blades around him so fast that it took all of her concentration to merely deflect the blows; each one sending her back a step. Akari ducked under his next blow and ran across the deck, searching for something to give her the upper-hand in this duel.

"How predictable—you always run, don't you?" Zuko called after her.

He was toying with her emotions, she knew that. But just like before, it got to her, simply because it's true. She whirled around just in time to see Zuko flip the extra wooden chair by his uncle into the air with the blade of his sword, kick it, and send it flying across the deck in her direction.

Akari ran towards the flying chair and slid under it. As she was sliding, she looked up to see Zuko in mid jump; his blades trained on her. Before she knew what she was doing, Akari kicked her legs into his gut; redirecting his leap and sending him tumbling.

As they jumped up, Akari could have sworn she heard Zuko laugh. A moment later he was in front of her once more, dealing blows so quickly that Akari would have believed he had a hundred swords instead of two. Still, she somehow managed to deflect each one. She was still in this battle—barely.

Then in one quick movement, Zuko unhooked her swords from her hands and sent them clattering across the deck. Before she could even think of a few choice words to cuss him out with, he tripped her onto her back and pressed both his blades against her neck.

Akari stayed on her back, painfully aware of the two metal blades pressed against her neck. Her chest was rising and falling at a furious pace and her brow was drenched with sweat. Through all this, a smile broke out across her face.

A smaller one flashed Zuko's face as he flipped his blades back into his sheath. He held out a hand for her. Akari took it and was easily pulled back onto her feet.

But neither of them let go of each other's hand. They were standing almost toe-to-toe. Akari noticed he was breathing just as hard as she was, and although he wasn't smiling, there was a genuine happiness in his eyes that she had never seen before. She became aware that he was studying her as intently as she was studying him. Something changed in the air between them and suddenly she couldn't look away from his golden gaze. Her heart pounded rapidly and a burning heat rose in her chest—neither were the result of exertion. He opened his mouth to say something, but Akari found she was terrified to hear what he had to say.

Instead she dropped his hand, gave his shoulder a shove, and chuckled under her breath as she walked across the deck to collect her butterfly swords. As she picked them up, she realized her legs were shaking violently and her scar was burning. The exertion was quickly catching up with her. Not for the first time, she felt her anger flare at her weakness. This shouldn't be happening. Akari sheathed the swords, and turned around to find herself face to face with Zuko.

"Here." Zuko threw her tunic into her face and dropped her boots at her feet.

"Thanks," Akari mumbled and handed him her butterfly sword. She slipped on her tunic and pulled on her boots. Then she held out her hand for her sword.

Zuko suppressed a laugh. "You don't get to keep this with you. It's a weapon, and you are my prisoner. Or did you forget?"

For some reason, the words were like a slap across the face. It was what she reminded herself of every day, but hearing it from him hurt. Akari decided that the best response was not to answer. Iroh shuffled over to them and clapped his hand on his nephew's back.

"Excellent Prince Zuko. That was a stunning display, although now we are short one chair." Iroh chuckled and glanced over at the chunks of wood a crew member was cleaning up.

Akari laughed and shrugged at Iroh, "More firewood, right?"

He laughed heartily at her and gripped her right shoulder with his hand. "Right you are! Do not think I have forgotten you. Nobody would guess that was your first time wielding that weapon." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. Akari had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. "I suppose your technique is a bit odd, but so is your fire bending. So it all fits, doesn't it? But you are probably tired, aren't you?"

With that Iroh started walking towards the door. Akari followed, trying with all her might to keep her legs from giving out. Once they were inside and out of Zuko's observant stare, Iroh offered his support. Akari accepted his help, and together they hobbled down towards her cell.

After a moment, Akari asked, "Iroh, when will I stop being this weak? I used to be able to do stuff like that and at least be able to walk!"

"I know it must be frustrating. But I still stand by my theory that you are going to have to undergo some extreme release."

When Akari didn't answer, Iroh smiled reassuringly. "It will come in time. Do not worry."

* * *

The nightmares came back that night.

The dream was pitch black and echoed with Ozai's hideous laughter. Every way she turned she would catch a glimpse of him; the edge of his robes, his long hair, his lips curling into a smile, his eyes that are eerily similar yet infinitely colder than his son's. Vicious blue lightning would crack and light up her world. Simultaneously screams would fill the air; whether it was her screams or Ozai's other victims', Akari couldn't tell. Then fire comes shooting down and burns into her back and shoulder. Each flame feels like it is etching her scar deeper and deeper into her skin.

She hears her name whispered cruelly from every corner of her mind.

"Akari."

"Akari."

"Akari."

Then all of the sudden the voice changes from the vicious whisper into a low, almost melodic tone that she instantly recognizes.

"Akari."

"Akari."

"Akari!"

Akari snaps up with her scar burning so intensely that she would have believed it was seconds old instead of one year old. She clawed at it over and over again, trying to tear the pain away. Then a hand was encircling her wrists. She struggled to free herself from the grip.

"Akari, it's me."

This time she stopped wriggling and looked up to find the hands and the voice belonged to Zuko. He was leaning back on his heels in front of her looking beyond tired. Akari pushed herself up and say cross-legged in front of him with her back against the wall.

"You look fresh as a daisy," Akari managed as she tried to catch her breath.

Apparently Zuko wasn't in the mood for her jokes because he just kept on staring. After a few uncomfortable minutes, Akari's breathing had slowed down to normal but her scar still burned like crazy. She winced as she tried to message it.

"Would you stop staring? It's unnerving."

Zuko inclined his head but did not look very ashamed. He mimicked her and sat with his legs crossed in front of her, eyeing her massaging her scar.

"Does it hurt all the time?" Zuko's voice was heavy with sleep.

Akari decided to avoid that question. "I had a dream that felt like my scar was getting burned into me again and again."

Zuko considered this for a moment, and then his eyes shifted from her scar to her eyes. "You didn't answer my question."

"Nothing gets by you, does it?"

Zuko ignored her sarcasm. "Well are you going to answer it?"

"I think I'll leave the answer to your imagination," Akari answered. She decided not to waste any more material on him. He was obviously not in a joking mood.

Zuko sighed before crawling over to sit next to her with his back against the wall. He tilted his head back to lean it against the cool wall. Akari watched as his eyes would droop until his golden eyes would be closed for a few seconds, and then snap back open only to have the process start all over again.

"You can sleep you know."

Zuko grunted in response. But the next time his eyes fell shut, he didn't open them again. Within minutes he was asleep.

And within minutes his nightmares began.

Akari watched anxiously as his expression became pained, his breathing became labored, and his hands writhed in his lap. She spun around so she was facing him and the wall and situated herself next to him. Without hesitating she took his hands in hers.

"Zuko, Zuko. It's a dream. Just sleep, alright?" Akari mumbled any reassuring thing she could come up with. When she ran out of words, she hummed a rough tune that all the miners used to hum as they walked home.

Soon enough, Zuko's sleep became peaceful. Akari couldn't help but notice how young he looked when he slept—even with his scar. _Does everyone look so innocent when they dream?_

Akari tried to pull her hands from his, but he was holding on so tightly that Akari couldn't unlace his fingers from hers. She sighed half heartedly before resting her head on his knees and drifting into sleep.

* * *

A week passed by in routine. Every day at noon Iroh would bring her up on deck. First they would practice fire bending. Eventually, Zuko gave up on trying to make her do forms. Instead, Iroh would give Zuko and her lessons. He taught them about fire daggers, fire bombs, and most importantly the breath of fire. After that, they would either practice hand to hand combat or their blades. In hand to hand combat, Akari was getting a little bit better every day. It was hard for her though, because her natural instincts told her to run and duck instead of blocking and dealing out blows. Wielding her swords came naturally to her. Zuko had to hold back on her less and less. She even practiced throwing them. She could hit her mark almost every time now. Her first try had resulted in almost hitting Iroh.

He went inside whenever she began to practice hitting targets after that.

Then she lay around in her cell to wait for the nightmares to consume her.

That was what she was currently doing. Their ship was docked in a tiny maritime village towards the most Northern tip of the Earth Kingdom. Suddenly, the sound of feet running through the halls filled the ship. Voices bounced off the walls. Curious and a bit frightened, Akari stood up in her cell, staring intently at the door as if she could will it to open.

To her surprise, it did. A crew member came rushing in, fumbled to unlock her cell, and then stepped inside.

"Turn around," he huffed.

Akari opened her mouth to object, but the man cut her off.

"I said turn around!" he shouted.

Taken back, Akari obeyed. She felt his meaty hands begin to chain her wrists together behind her back. Why would they be chaining her up again?

"What is going on?" Akari asked tentatively. She had no desire to make this man any more frazzled than he already was.

"Admiral Zhao is boarding the ship. General Iroh wants you chained up in case Zhao decides to snoop around. We don't want to give Zhao any reasons to have you removed from the ship."

"Oh…thanks?"

The man just grunted in response. He jerked he end of the chain to make sure it was tight, locked her cell, and then left.

Akari paced back and forth in her cell for what seemed to be hours. Eventually the door opens and a man who must be Admiral Zhao, a few soldiers, and Iroh enter the room.

"Ah, so this is your prisoner?" Zhao smirks. His voice is haughty, he carries himself with arrogance, and his face is filled with revolting pride. Akari immediately hates him.

Akari refused to look away from his beady eyes as Zhao openly studied her. A laugh escaped him, and he smiled as if he is amused by what he sees. Pissed off, Akari eyed him steadily.

Then spat at his feet.

In the background Akari saw Iroh run a hand down his face in frustration. Zhao's smile disappeared and was quickly replaced by an annoyed frown.

"Well that's quite the bitch you have on your hands Iroh," Zhao growled as he leaned forward towards her cell. It was as if he was inspecting some beast in a cage.

Iroh didn't answer and Akari was quickly loosing the fight with her temper. Her fists were trembling behind her back and her finger nails were digging into her palms. She wanted nothing more to spar with this jerk—physically or verbally. But Iroh's eyes were practically begging her to behave.

"Hmmmm…You look familiar." Zhao stepped up so that he was right in front of her cell, his eyes studying her intently. Panic gripped at Akari's chest. If he realized who she was and the price the Fire Lord had on her head, Zhao would carry her to Ozai himself. Now she understood the reasons behind Iroh's warnings. _Please don't recognize me. Please don't. _

After a few agonizing seconds Zhao stepped back and laughed. "Well, all these peasants look the same. There is really no need to bring her back a Fire Nation prison immediately, Iroh. I'm sure once you break this spirit of hers she will be a pretty servant. Maybe Zuko will keep her around as his own personal whore."

It took every ounce of self-control Akari had not to lash out at this man. That last comment felt like a knife had cut through her pride, confidence, and heart all at once. Zhao turned around to face the small crowd gathered in the room.

"Ah, Zuko. Have you come to escort me off your ship? Not necessary, I'm sure your crew will show me out. However, I would like to have a word with your uncle…" With that Zhao, his soldiers, and Iroh filled out of the room—leaving Zuko behind.

_How much had he heard?_

Zuko glanced out the door where the procession had exited, back to her, and the back out again. Apparently he was torn. Then in one fluid movement Zuko was at her cell. One hand clung to a bar for dear life while the other reached inside the cell and jerked her chin up to look at him.

"Don't believe a damn word he said, Akari. Don't believe a damn word!" Zuko shouted furiously at her. His liquid gold eyes searched her own, trying to find some sort of sign that she believed his words. "That man is a twisted little bastard. None of that is true. None of it! Do you understand me?"

Akari didn't respond. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against the bars partly out of confusion and partly out of exhaustion. After a moment's hesitation, Zuko let go of her and hurried out of the room.

* * *

Hours passed and soon the sun began to set. The ship was extremely silent. Akari was beginning to think their sea adventures had come to an end now that their crew was gone. Akari was lying under the tiny window at the perfect angle so she could see the colors of the sun cast against the sky. She heard the door creak open and lifted her head to see who it was.

"Zuko is in his room, and I am going on an evening stroll," Iroh said as he walked up to the cell. Iroh paused for a moment. "I want to apologize for what Zhao said. You must know that neither I nor Zuko think of you that way. I know he might not show it but—"

"He already apologized," Akari interrupted. She rested her head back down and continued to study the sky.

"He did?" Unless Akari was mistaken, she detected a bit of pride in Iroh's tone. "Regardless, don't listen to that man..."

When it became clear that Akari was not going to respond, Iroh sighed.

"Good night, Akari."

Akari heard the door clang shut behind him. She felt slightly guilty for being cold to Iroh, but she had a lot on her mind. Although both of the men told her to ignore Zhao's words, Akari couldn't forget them. They kept repeating themselves over and over again in her mind, tormenting her confidence and trust.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Akari thought she saw a piece of wood dart across her window. But that didn't make sense. Maybe she was just too preoccupied with her thoughts and she imagined it. Or maybe she was going crazy. Akari would believe either explanation.

She craned her neck to try and get a better view, and sure enough another chunk of wood was lifted across her window. Akari realized they were crates. Was Zuko hauling food on board? But that didn't make sense. Iroh said Zuko was sleeping.

"Be careful, that's…"

The whisper caused Akari to jump onto her feet. Akari had only been able to hear the first half of the sentence. Was it a crew loading food? What the hell was going on?

Then a metal clang reached her ears and everything became deathly silent. The noise was slight, but Akari had heard it many times before. It was the sound of the door into the ship. It was always a bit louder than people would expect it to be. Panic and fear gripped Akari's stomach. Something in the air felt terribly wrong.

_What was he saying? "Be careful, that's something something." Jasmine tea? No. Squishy belly? No. What is it? What is it? Peanut butter and jelly? No. No. No!_

Akari raked her brain. Why couldn't she figure it out?

And then it hit her.

_Blasting jelly._

All the pieces quickly fell into place. Somebody was going to blow up the ship.

"Zuko!" Akari screamed at the top of her lungs.

The ship erupted in a cloud of smoke and fire and sound. Akari went flying through the air, banging into chunks of metal along the way. Everything was pure chaos. She had no idea which way was up or down or if she was falling or soaring up into the air. The original boom still echoed throughout her left ear, but it felt like her right ear could hear nothing at all.

Hitting the water felt as if she was being thrown against a cliff. It was unbearably cold because they were so far north. She immediately lost all feeling. Akari tried to swim, but her hands were still chained behind her back and her legs were quickly draining in life. Besides that, she had no idea which way was up or which way was down.

A fear tore at her hear. It was a kind of panic she had known only one other time—the other time she was sure she was going to die.

There was no air in her lungs and panic caused her to try to take a gulp of something—anything. The only thing that rushed into her lungs was water. The chains that bound her wrists were dragging her deeper and deeper into the depths of the water. Icy cold water pressed against her body and darkness began to creep over her vision.

She was drowning.

She should have given up. How long had it been? Seconds? Minutes? All she knew is that a person cannot go this long without air. Still she struggled against everything holding her back—the chains, the water, the odds, her own mind telling her to just give up. Now she could hardly see; whether it was because of the darkness of the water or the fact that she was dying she couldn't tell.

And then what surely must be the arms of Death wrapped around her and pulled her away.


	13. Chapter 13 The Release

Hi,

So, today I have a SNOW DAY! ~  
Which probably explains why this did not take my usual 0349820945 months to update. ;D  
Thank you all for reviewing. To me, each review is the equivalent of celebrating my birthday, if that gives you any idea of how much I love them. :3

On another note, we are getting towards the end of what would be book one in the TV Series. Maybe one or two more chapters? I can't decide yet. After that we will move right along into what would be book two and all the Earth Kingdom stuff. So look forward to that. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA. Akari, however, with all her crazy recklessness is mine. So that counts for something right? RIGHT?

Please **review**. It's really not that hard. You just click the little button and type a few words or sentences. How did you like this chapter? What did you like? What didn't you? Questions?

With all my heart,

~Rehyou

* * *

The Release

"So fall, go on and fall apart.  
Fall into these arms of mine.  
I'll catch you  
Every time you fall.  
Go on and lose it all.  
Every doubt, every fear,  
Every worry, every tear,  
I'm right here.  
Baby, fall."  
-Clay Walker

Akari was in a spectacular palace unlike anything she could ever imagine; that is, if you could even call it a palace. The room stretched out into infinite vastness. There was no beginning and no end. The hardwood floors ran out all the way to the horizon. There were no walls that she could see. But the thing that most captured her attention was the ceiling. It was a glass roof vaulting impossibly high into the heavens; bathing every surface in a brilliant, pure sunlight. It was the strangest and most beautiful place she had ever been.

To her left a green mist seeped into the air out of nowhere. It twisted and expanded; dancing through the air like it had a mind of its own. It separated into two different entities. Akari stared for a moment, completely mesmerized. All of the sudden she was staring at two figures—one was slight woman, the other a broad-shouldered man.

And just like that, her green, misty parents were smiling at her.

They seemed so happy and welcoming that Akari couldn't help but grin back at them. There was no remorse or sadness in her as she looked upon them. How could she be sad when death seemed so happy? She was about to take a step towards them, but something stopped her. Something about the action of stepping towards her family seemed very permanent—very final.

Then to her right she heard the softest of winds. It sounded like the beating of a butterfly-moth's wings. It gathered in speed and volume, causing her hair to whip across her face. The wind was full of laughter and singing and soft murmurs. But she could hear tears and screams and hateful words as well. Still, all of the sounds and voices twisted and mingled into a beautiful harmony that was so lively and intoxicating.

In this furious wind, the voice that stood out to her most was a low, melodic voice that instantly caught her heart and called her home.

Without a moment's hesitation she stepped to her right into the wind. She glanced over at her ghostly parents and saw that their smiles were larger than ever. They inclined their heads and looked with her at pride, as if they had hoped she would step into the wind all along. Akari knew leaving them was right; because, hopefully at the right time, she would come here again and take their hands instead.

The wind wrapped itself around her like a tornado. Her hair flew around her as she flung her head back and added her own laughter to the sounds. Then the wind left her and gathered into a long stream, almost as if somebody was bending it.

Then the wind rushed straight into her laughing mouth.

**...**

Air filled her lungs.

She coughed many times. She even felt some water bubble up from her lungs and spill out of the corner of her lips. Akari opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was his gold eyes.

"Thank Agni!" he whispered, more to himself than her. "I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead…"

He rolled over and flopped onto the sand next to her. His chest was heaving and his face was a collage of cuts and bruises. She noticed something else. The prince's face was also glistening with water…or was it tears? Zuko glanced over at her, and something apparently caught his attention.

"Roll onto your side."

Akari struggled to get her body to listen. Something was off. Zuko, not aware of her worries, gently pushed her onto her side himself. Then with a piece of metal wreckage that had floated across the bay, he began to saw off her metal chains. The weight lifted off her wrists and the sound of metal jingling told her Zuko had tossed the links aside.

She meant to thank him—really she did. But a complete lack of control over her body took precedence. Akari tried to push herself up. It took many attempts and hurt like hell once she accomplished this. That's when she began to worry. She was sixteen! Why was she like an infant who can't even support the weight of its own head?

"Zuko." The panic stirring at the edge of her voice caused him to sit up right away. "Zuko, I—I can't move."

He spun around to kneel in front of her. "What do you mean you can't move?"

"I mean just what I say! I can't move! It took me four tries to sit up—four! And my arms feel like noodles and all my muscles are shaking and why the hell is this happening to me?" Akari's hands flew to her neck. Although that action within itself took a few attempts. Her throat felt sore and scratched. Akari rasped, "I sound like you!"

Despite himself, Zuko chuckled.

"This isn't funny!" Akari said in her same scratchy voice. Zuko's mouth pressed into a thin line, but if he was trying to hold back his amusement, he was doing a pretty bad job.

"Okay, just calm down."

Akari's jaw dropped. Him, of all people, was telling him to remain calm? Mr. Moody? The King of Tempers? The Sultan of Recklessness? The Emperor of Emotions? Prince Zuko?

"Alright I get it! I have no right to tell you to be calm," said Zuko, putting up his hands in defeat. He got up and held his hands out to her. "Grab on and I'll pull you up."

Zuko did most of the grabbing as he pulled her onto her feet. Akari tottered for a fleeting moment on her feet before her legs gave out from under and she fell, only to be caught by Zuko. Once again this prince was the only thing holding her up. She racked her brain for an explanation to her weakness, but there were none she was willing to accept. She dared a glance at Zuko's face as he arranged their arms so he could support her. He seemed much more concerned now that he realized this issue was serious.

"We need to find my uncle."

Akari could hear the urgency that he tried to bury under a layer of calm. Immediately guilt gripped at her gut. Of course he would want to find Iroh. His uncle probably thought they were dead. She could imagine what Iroh's mind must be like. It must be like finding out her nightmares are real.

They both realized that they were not going to get anywhere walking. Akari's feet practically dragged in the sand, while Zuko supported her full body weight. Without a word, possibly with the intention of sparing her pride, Zuko pulled her onto his back. Grateful for his silence and his help, Akari wrapped her arms as tightly as her noodle muscles could around his neck.

Zuko trotted in the alley ways behind the wooden houses, only stopping occasionally to shift her weight. For a town that had just had a ship explode in their harbor, it was awfully quiet. Perhaps most of the residents were out at sea. Or maybe they were afraid that they might be next. Every now and then, Zuko would stick his head out to look onto the main street as they slowly worked their way to the docks. While Zuko looked at the street, Akari studied the docks. A lone and frantic figure caught her eye.

"Zuko, over there! Look at the docks!" Akari whispered into his ear.

Zuko's head snapped up and he picked up the pace. As they hurried towards the docks, Iroh's voice reached them first.

"Zuko! Nephew!" Iroh's pained shouts echoed throughout the harbor. "Akari! Zuko! Prince Zuko! Answer me!"

Zuko trotted faster.

A man walked by, eyeing Iroh with suspicion. Iroh, apparently undaunted, ran up to the man and clutched onto the front of his shirt for dear life.

"Please sir! My nephew and his friend, they were in the explosion! You have to help me! We need to send a search party out to—"

The passerby pushed Iroh onto the ground with a look of disgust all over his face. Iroh remained there on his knees and buried his face in his hands. Even from this distance, Akari could see his shoulders shaking.

Suddenly Akari was thrown to the ground.

"Stay here," said Zuko quickly before creeping over to the last house before the docks.

Akari obeyed and stayed in her flopped pile. "Yeah, like I'm going anywhere."

Zuko picked up one pebble, throwing it with uncanny accuracy into the side of his uncle's head. To her relief, Iroh slowly turned.

His face lit up like a kid who had gotten their very own ostrich pony—only brighter.

Iroh scrambled over and hugged Zuko so hard that the two of them fell over to her spot. It was one big floppy love pile now. Iroh continued squeezing the life out of Zuko while his nephew patted him on the back.

"Oh Zuko, I thought you were dead! My nephew, my boy, he's alive!" Iroh cried into Zuko's shoulder.

Meanwhile, Akari watched as Zuko's face changed from pale to red to a deathly shade of purple.

"Iroh, you're choking him."

Iroh pulled back from the hug and looked at Zuko. "Did you say something, nephew?"

Zuko let out a burst of laughter and Akari groaned loudly.

"No, that was me!" Akari cried indignantly, but her raspy voice did nothing to ebb the amused look on Zuko's face.

Suddenly she found herself wrapped in Iroh's arms. When he finally let go he was beaming at her, despite the fact that she hadn't been able to find the strength to return it. His smile began to fade as he took in how she was slumped helplessly against the wall. Zuko sat down next to his uncle.

"She can't move. Her strength is gone." Akari was glad he delivered the news for her.

Iroh studied her and nodded. "This must be your extreme release."

Akari was stunned. That couldn't be right. The way she understood the extreme release Iroh explained was that she would become stronger and return to her full strength.

"But—but it can't be! I'm supposed to get stronger when that happens. I'm not supposed to get so weak that I can hardly move." Akari tripped over her words as horror set in. Would this mean she would never get better?

"Perhaps," Iroh suggested gently, "you have to hit rock bottom first."

"Ha," Akari laughed bitterly. "So nearly dying is my rock bottom? That's happened to me before."

Iroh forced a smile, but Zuko's face remained stoic.

"I'm just happy you two are alive." Iroh smiled at both of them.

After a pause, Zuko said, "Uncle, the pirates did this. I saw their bird. Zhao must be behind it though. I am sure of it. You heard what he told me about the Blue Spirit getting what he deserved. It has to be him. We need to—"

"Need to what, Prince Zuko?" Iroh interrupted his voice rough and criticizing. "Get revenge on Zhao? You want to stoop to his level? Is that what you want to do?"

Zuko bowed his head in defeat. "No. I want to continue to my search for the Avatar. Zhao said he was going to invade the North Pole. We have to get there. But how?"

Iroh snapped his fingers together. "Zhao offered me a position on his ship."

Zuko's face remained passive, but Akari caught on quickly. And she did not like where this was going.

"You want to accept the job, keep pretending we're dead, have us pose as guards, and have Zhao sail us all the way over to the North Pole?"

Both Iroh and Zuko stared at her, apparently dumbfounded. "No," Iroh said slowly. Then his voice perked up considerably. "But that was much better than my idea!"

The two men quickly went over the details so rapidly that Akari did not have the mental concentration to keep up. The sun was beginning to disappear under the ocean. The evening sky was bathed in red, setting an eerie contrast against the remains of the ship that smoldered like a dying fire. The fiery color of the sky sent a shiver down her spine; though Akari tried to convince herself it was because of the cold. The voices of Zuko and Iroh had dropped from a brisk chatter to a low whisper. Akari focused her attention back on them, trying to hear what they were saying. Immediately they stopped talking.

"What?" Akari knew right away they were talking about her.

For a moment, neither Iroh nor Zuko said a word. Akari patiently eyed them both, waiting for one of them to give in. Slowly, a guilty look crept across one of the men's face.

"Iroh thinks you should stay behind," Zuko relented.

Iroh avoided her gaze while Akari's mind spun. She had expected any news about leaving her behind to come from Zuko's head, not Iroh's. Not only was she confused, but she felt hurt. Did Iroh really think she was such a burden? There was a pang in her heart like she hadn't felt in a long time. It reminded her of when her father would get disappointed in her. Was Iroh becoming like a father to her?

She hadn't said anything for a long time. Zuko must have felt worried because when he spoke, his words were slow. "He is worried about your current health. You are extremely weak right now and we have no idea when you will get better." Zuko paused and took a breath. "Personally, I'm torn."

Akari was impossibly frustrated, but she kept her wit about her. She kept her head against the wall, her gaze cool, and spoke in a measured voice. "I know I am weak. If it worries you, think about what it is doing to me. It's my body after all. But if you leave me here and think I will stay happily, you are wrong. I don't care how I do it, I don't care how weak I am, I don't care if it is risky, but I will be on that boat. We all know I have issues with taking risks, being irrational and acting recklessly. So if you want to keep a close eye on me, the best solution would be to take me with you, now wouldn't it?"

Iroh shook his head, but his eyes were filled with admiration. A small smile crept onto Zuko's face.

"Well I guess that's settled," Zuko said.

After making sure Zuko knew the plan, Iroh hugged him quickly, touched her shoulder, and then trotted off. Zuko watched him leave with a little bit of sadness in his eyes. He gathered her up into his arms and started walking. She supposed it wasn't even worth trying to help her walk anymore.

"Where are we going?"

"The opposite side of the harbor," Zuko grunted and shifted her in his arms.

Akari looked at the opposite side of the docks. The beach was large with soft-looking white sand. There was a large cliff that jutted out like a peninsula. At the base of the cliff was a thicket of bushes. Suddenly Zuko crouched down, leaning back on his heels.

"Don't move." Zuko's lips brushed her ear as he whispered to her.

It wasn't like she had a choice, but Akari prayed he couldn't hear her pounding heart as she held her tongue and studied the shore. A lone figure came marching around from the other side of the cliff. As the figure came closer, Akari could make out the tell tale signs of a soldier. He walked pass the thicket of bushes, although he walked closer to the water than the cliff. Boredom was evident in the way he walked—shoulder slumped, head looking at the water. Then he turned around and disappeared.

Zuko quickly started moving again, this time at a jog. They reached the thicket, which seemed to be about four feet tall now that she got a better look at it. Zuko dropped her to the ground and crawled into the branches. Akari could only tilt her head and watch as the darkness engulfed him and the branches tore him from her sight. Strangely enough she didn't doubt him coming back for her. Akari was more worried about the guard that could come around the corner any moment.

Then, quite suddenly, strong hands wrapped around her arms and pulled her into the bushy abyss. For a moment it was so dark she could hardly see anything. Branches clawed at her face and tore at her clothes. Next thing she knew the bushes had thinned and she was lying in a sort of hollow in the thicket next to Zuko. He settled down next to her, lying on his back as well. Akari busied herself with watching the stars that she could see through the thin, bush roof.

"Around the corner on the other side of the cliff is a small cove. That's where Zhao docked his boat and that is why the soldiers are patrolling." Zuko's voice was a barely audible whisper.

"What about the guards? Won't they come over here?"

"I don't think so," Zuko began. "I think they'll come over here once an hour at best. You saw how bored that soldier was. He's obviously not paying attention." There was a significant pause before Zuko spoke again. "Besides, if they found us we could always make up some kind of…excuse."

Akari knew what he was implying. It would be easy to pretend that they were some type of lovers hiding away from their parents—trying to steal a piece of time. The only problem with that story was their lack of parents, his scar, and her inability to move. Either way, Akari just hoped that the darkness was enough to hide the blush that was surely creeping up her cheeks.

Apparently the silence that followed was too terrible to bear, because suddenly Zuko asked, "What's your favorite color?"

Surprised, not to mention a bit amused, Akari tried to turn her head to glance at him. All she could see was his outline, but it seemed to her that he was staring very pointedly at the stars. Smiling slightly, Akari copied him and stared at the winking stars through the broken branches.

"Turquoise." Akari whispered in her hoarse voice. "Not the bright kind. I like the shade that is darker and rougher…kind of like the ocean."

Almost instantly her mind pulled out the same memory she experienced at Kane's house. She could see the water tossing in the most beautiful color she had ever seen. She could see the fireflies as they danced around her and the pink cherry trees swaying in the breeze. She could see the blood-red sunset caused by the sun that began to sink into the ocean's depths. She could smell the smoke…

Akari scrambled for a way to free herself from the memory that was unfolding. "What is yours?" Akari's voice was broken and sounded terrified. Besides shifting uneasily next to her, Zuko did not acknowledge her brief episode in anyway.

He hesitated before answering. "Gold," he rasped. "Kind of like a firefly and the stars…or a turtle duck."

Akari recalled the first time she had seen him had a nightmare. He had been so upset when she mentioned a turtle duck. She couldn't help but wondering what connection was there. Her mind gave her no time to mule over the workings of Zuko's mind. The stress of basically drowning and experiencing her "extreme release" were beginning to catch up with her. The dull heartbeat of her scar was rapidly escalating into an intense pain. Unable to move without multiple attempts and added ache, Akari stayed on the ground with her fingers digging into her palms and her toes curling—in too much pain to make even the faintest whimper.

"Akari?" The raspy whisper came from beside her. Zuko rolled onto his side to face her. "Akari, what can I do?"

Akari managed to shake her head. He would just have to sit by until this was all over. Eventually, the pain subsided into something more manageable. Her brow was drenched in sweat and her breathing was labored—but the most painful thing was the frustration and embarrassment she felt.

"Damn it, Zuko. Why am I like this?" Despite her determination, her resolve, and her pride, Akari realized she was struggling to blink back the tears that were pricking her eyes. "I wasn't always this way. I use to be able fire bend for hours on end. I use to not have a scar. I use to be able to walk without falling constantly!"

Akari's hands were trembling by her sides and her eyes were clenched shut. Zuko whispered harshly, "Akari, listen to me." When Akari did not open her eyes, Zuko pulled her onto her side to face him. The fact that she could do nothing about this only added to her frustration. "Listen to me. You've been a prisoner for, how many years?"

"Including now?" Akari spat. Zuko ignored this and stared steadily at her. Akari decided being his prisoner didn't count. "Two."

He seemed a bit taken back, but continued regardless. "When did you get your scar?"

"One year ago."

"How long were you out of prison before I found you?"

This was quickly becoming a question and answer session about her recent past, but Akari decided to humor him. Even if the events made her head spin. "About a month, give or take."

Zuko hesitated before continuing. Maybe he felt guilty by how little time she has had being free. Good. "Then during your time with me you have suffered countless nightmares, multiple attacks from your scar, weeks of Shirshu poisoning, and most recently downing." Akari was beginning to wonder why she stuck with him in the first place. "Of course your body is weak. People aren't supposed to go through that much. It's a miracle you've made it this far."

His speech made her feel a little better. But it did nothing to mend her broken pride or relieve her worries about when she would recover. Akari studied Zuko's face, which happened to be inches from hers. Absent mindedly, she wondered if his favorite color of gold was the same shade of his eyes. The sun must have finally set simultaneously pulling a cloak of darkness across the sky, and bringing the chilly night air with it. A shiver rolled down her spine involuntarily.

Without a word he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. Every place they touched filled her with the warmth that seemed to radiate off of him. Akari curled her arms against his stomach and pressed her forehead against his chest. She could have sworn his arms tightened around her.

"Does it hurt all the time?" Akari could feel his chin move against the top of her head and his breath trail down her hair. The tone of his voice told her he would not accept any lies.

"Normally it is just like a big heartbeat." Her voice was muffled by his chest. "But during stressful situations it…gets worse."

His next question was almost immediate. "Are you going to tell me who burned you?"

"Why don't you just dare me to tell you?" The frustration in her voice was obvious. If he really wanted to know, he could make her since she lost the truth game they played a while ago. Either way, she was becoming tired of his questions. Why couldn't he see that she wasn't telling him to protect him?

"No. I want you to tell me because you want to."

Akari's resolve has been slipping the more and more she got to know him. Any determination she had left, all the reasons that she had for leaving him in the dark, flew out the window with that simple statement.

Akari took a long moment to think. The question on how he would react was killing her. She tried to think of the best way to tell him. Should she ease him into it? Should she explain the details of it more? In the end, she admitted in her classic, reckless, and straightforward style.

"Fire Lord Ozai. Your father." Akari's voice was barely audible after being muffled by his chest, but it was clear that he heard it.

The young prince's arms clenched around her. His fists grabbed a hold of her shirt and trembled. She could feel chest rising and falling rapidly, and the muscles in his jaw become taut as his chin rested on her head.

"My…my father did that to you?" His words were slow and dripped in anger, uncertainty, and shame.

Akari did not answer.

"Akari, I am so sorry." His rough voice tore at her heart. "I can't believe I—I mean my father did that to you. I never imagined—I just never thought he would do that to somebody else. The man who raised me... I owe you so much."

Him? The man who saves her from her nightmares? The man who heals her pride? The man who trains her and puts up with her abuse? The man who carries her when she can't even hold herself together? The man who has saved her in more ways than one? He…owes her? Akari couldn't even wrap her head around an idea so absurd—she owes him everything.

"Zuko, you owe me nothing."

"But—"

"Listen," Akari commanded, cutting off his interruption. "One, you do not owe me anything. Two, you are not your father. Do you understand? You are two totally and completely different people."

For a long while they didn't say anything. Akari slowly felt the progression of him calming down—his muscles loosened, his fists unclenched, and his breathing slowed. His arms did not loosen his hold on her. Akari felt sleep creeping up on her, and she was half excited to welcome it with open arms after everything that happened today.

"Now we have one more thing in common." His voice was so soft she would have believed it to be the wind if it wasn't for his breath tracing down her neck. "We've both been scarred by my father."

Akari didn't know how to answer him. She infinitely appreciated him telling her a piece of his story that many people did not know. She, of course, knew how hard that was. But after such an emotional day, so full of turmoil, no decent response came to her.

"Thank for saving me," she rasped into his chest.

In response his arms tightened around her.

Akari sighed, exhausted mentally and physically. She loved how he wore his heart on his sleeve. If one was to look the right way, all of his emotions and feelings were laid out for the world to do what they want with. When he talked about his father, he had seemed so ashamed and so upset. His sensitive side always pulled at her heartstrings. It half made her wonder if she was going to be able to see this side of him more often.

Right now all of that didn't matter. After all, they were as safe as two wanted teens from the Fire Nation could be. She couldn't move and her shoulder was still a pulsing ache, but she was in the prince's arms.

That thought alone made her fall asleep with a smile on her face.


	14. Chapter 14 Recovery

Hullo,

Please don't hate me for being gone for forever. I know it's hard not to, but just read instead.

Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA

As always, please **review.** They mean the world to me.

~Rehyou

Recovery

"Well behaved women rarely make history."

Akari suddenly jolted awake with a hand pressed tightly against her mouth. She tossed and turn as much she could, but it was all too easy for the person to hold her down in her weakened state. Her eyes searched frantically in the darkness in an attempt to figure out who was responsible for all this. When she saw golden eyes flash, her confusion caused her to stop flailing like a giant coy fish.

Zuko used the opportunity to pin her down…by using his whole body. Akari just hoped it was still dark enough to hide the blush creeping up her neck. He looked down at her with something similar to pity in his eyes. If he was going look at her like this all the time just because his father scarred her, they were going to have to have a talk.

"It's just me," Zuko breathed, his lips brushing against her ear. "You had a nightmare, and I think the guards might have heard."

His suspicions were confirmed when the sounds of boots and clanking metal got closer from around the corner. A knot formed in her stomach. Of course she would cause this to happen. An apology was just about to leave her lips when Zuko shook his head as he looked down at her. His eyes told her to be silent.

"What is it?" The voice of the soldier sounded distant. Akari relaxed slightly. They were nowhere near them.

"I thought I heard something." Akari's muscles grew taut, and Zuko's wide eyes mimicked her fears. This new voice sounded like it was right in front of them. Akari turned her head to the side in an attempt to see out onto the beach. Sure enough, there was a pair of feet right in front of the thicket they were hiding in.

"It was probably just some villagers."

The boots shifted uneasily. "It sounded like crying."

"Look. The boat takes off at noon. That's eight hours from now. If anybody was planning to compromise the ship they would have done it by now. Besides, what will the person do? Drown us with their tears?" The soldier laughed at his own joke, but the boot man didn't laugh. "Come on. Let's go back."

There was the sound of the one soldier leaving. The boots hesitated and then turned and left.

Akari was trying so hard to hear that it sounded like static in her ears. After a few moments of silence, Zuko rolled off of her. Akari was just about to say how sorry she was when Zuko cut her off.

"Akari, it's not your fault." He waved his hand absently, as if nearly being discovered by soldiers was just a pesky horse fly. Akari sighed but didn't protest any further. She was in no condition to fight him anyway.

"Do you have a plan?"

Zuko hesitated. "No," he admitted.

A silence filled the air. "So are you going to think of one or…?"

"I'm working on it okay?" Zuko snapped at her in the quietest voice possible.

Akari smiled. There was nothing like picking at his temper to brighten her day. Over the next few hours she attempted to get her muscles up and running again. She flexed each muscle, from her toes to her fingertips, trying to gain back more strength and control. By the time a pale sunlight began to filter through the brush, she felt like she had control of her muscles again, but she was still weak.

She figured a few hours were enough time for him to think of something. "So, whatcha got?"

"Well I have a plan," Zuko said with hesitation in his voice, "but I don't know if you'll like it."

Akari rolled over on her side to look at him. She found he was already studying her. Akari raised her eyebrow, indicating that he should proceed.

"We need those two soldiers' uniforms, right?" Akari nodded slowly in agreement. Zuko continued. "Well I was thinking that we could sneak over to the end of our side of the beach. I could hide on one side of the tip of the cliff and then you could lure the soldiers over here by…" The last few words were barely audible.

"What'd you say?" Akari asked, her brow furrowed.

Zuko repeated the words, but she still couldn't hear them.

"I can't hear you. Could you please speak—"

"Seduce, okay?" Zuko whispered in exasperation. "I thought you could turn up your feminine charm and try and distract at least one of them. Then I could ambush them. We just have to make sure this is all of this is done as quietly as possible."

Akari was still caught up on the first part of the plan. "Wait, you want _me_ to _seduce_ them?"

"Why? Do you not think you can? I mean they are easy targets. They probably haven't seen a decent girl since they went to sea. But if you don't think you can…" Zuko grinned devilishly at her.

He was trying to mess with her. And it worked. What most irked her was how he called her decent; as if she was some little kid's swordsmanship that wasn't up to par with the rest of the class. She mumbled complaints under her breath as she sat up; ignoring Zuko's attempts to assist her. She clawed her way out of the thicket, stumbled out onto the sand, and staggered onto her feet.

By the time Zuko fought his way out, she was already kicking off her boots. She tossed them over to his feet. Her legs shook violently as she pulled of her leggings and threw them at Zuko.

"Hold those."

Zuko's eyes widened a bit, but he shoved them in his pocket anyways. Akari took a hold of the side of her flowy skirt and ripped the hem far past anything that would be considered decent; exposing a lot of bare leg and even her under wrappings that reached just a quarter of the way down her thigh. She would have taken off her long sleeves to be in just a loose tank top, but she didn't want to show her scar. She settled on unlacing the shirt some more to expose what little curves she had. Then she let her hair tumble down to her mid back for good measure.

"Come on." Akari ignored his wide-eyed stare and started walking when his hand grabbed her.

"Wait, take this." Zuko placed her sheathed butterfly swords in her hand.

She had no idea how he had saved them from the wreckage, but she didn't question it. Akari fumbled with the straps that would allow her to attach the blades to her upper arm. After hardly five seconds, Zuko pushed up her sleeve, gently attached the sheath to her arm, and then concealed the weapon. All she could think about was how his hands felt as they danced along her arm.

They made slow progress down the beach. Every now and then her legs would give out and leave her in a heap in the sand. Eventually, they made it to the tip of the peninsula of sand and cliffs. Akari situated herself so that to her left was the beach they had come from and to her right was the cove where Zhao's enormous ship was anchored. She stretched one leg out, had the other bent, and propped herself up on her hands. How the hell she was going to be sexy enough to distract two soldiers was anybody's guess.

Zuko disappeared into the shadows of the cliff behind her, and before she knew it she heard the guard calling out.

"HEY YOU!"

From her right he started jogging towards her, his other buddy was taking his time. When he got within fifty feet of her his pace slowed down to a cautious walk. It looked like Zuko's plan was actually working. Weird.

"What…what are you doing?"

"Just watching the sunrise." Akari tried to sound as casual as possible—which was difficult given the fact that she was talking to a man in full uniform that was about to be ambushed. "Would you like to join me?" The words sounded formal and so unlike anything she would say, but she threw in a smile and patted the sand next to her. Her arms were beginning to shake from holding her own weight up.

The man hesitated, as if weighing his options. He glanced over his shoulder at his buddy whose pace was as lethargic as ever. Then with a shrug he began to sit down next to her.

That was when Zuko attacked.

As quiet as a whispering wind, he clasped a hand over the soldier's mouth and dragged him into the shadows. The struggle was silent, but Zuko was having trouble keeping the soldier from calling for help and knocking him unconscious at the same time.

At the same time the other guy started to run towards her. Thank Agni he didn't have the common sense to raise the alarm. Akari unsheathed her swords and jabbed the hilt into his gut with a shaking hand. The blow bounced pathetically off the soldier's armor. The man laughed and slapped the blades right out of her hands. Akari watched helplessly as the swords buried themselves in the sand as if they were ashamed.

Akari used the last of her effort to kick the man's feet out from under him. He growled furiously, and despite the high pressure situation, she found herself stifling a laugh. He grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her up with him as he stood. She was dangling in the air; her feet barely brushing the safety of the sand.

"You're more trouble than you're worth," the man growled, but this time it wasn't so funny. Her hands clawed weakly at his iron grip, but it was hopeless. His eyes trailed greedily down her body, causing shivers to rack her body. Or maybe that was the convulsions from lack of oxygen. "Air sounds real nice right now, doesn't it? Breathing…such a wonderful sensation. Too bad you will soon be taking your last—"

He never finished because suddenly a metal helmet was throw with eerie precision against his own. He slumped to the ground; taking her down with him. Even though he was unconscious, it took Zuko a few minutes to loosen the man's fingers from her shirt. He sat next to her with is hand pressed against her back as she took short, ragged breaths. Her lungs didn't seem to remember what oxygen was.

Although she felt light-headed, she still had more common sense than the other member of this raid. "Not much time," Akari managed to rasp.

The prince snapped to his senses and left her side. All she could hear was the sound of the soldier being dragged through the sand. Zuko placed a pile of clothes and armor next to her, with the helmet resting on top and her swords right under it. Then he wandered a bit away and stared pointedly in the other direction. She appreciated that.

By the time she had just finished fumbling into the clothes; Zuko was already decked out in full armor.

"Let me help you." His voice was gentle, but unrelenting. She was going to open her mouth to refuse, but she had an idea that it was hopeless. Instead she swallowed her pride and held still as his expert hand slipped her armor into place. They didn't speak besides him asking her if her arm brace was too tight, or if the breastplate pinched her shoulder. When he was done she looked down at herself. The clothes were huge—she was practically swimming in fabric. All the armor made her feel like a lion turtle. It felt like if she hunched her shoulders she would become forever lost inside the metal shell.

When she looked back up he was still looking at her, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his lip. But then his eyes turned serious. "Are you going to be alright?"

Akari suppressed a groan. "Zuko, stop worrying about me. This is why I didn't want to tell you about my scar. I knew you were just going to think I'm weak because it hurts all the time and that you would start to underestimate me and—"

"Akari," Zuko cut her off quickly. "I wasn't talking about your scar. I was talking about the fact that you can hardly stand, let alone walk, and that your arms are shaking as we speak." Akari kept his gaze, half ashamed that she had assumed he had been worried about her burn this whole time. "But does it hurt?"

"I'm fine." Akari decided that was a safe answer. Not quite honest, but not deceitful. Besides, she couldn't stand lying to him at the moment. "Let's go."

They patrolled the beach just like the other soldiers had done. With luck, the rest of the enormous crew would just assume they were the next shift. Akari shambled along, tripping over her own feet more than taking actual steps. Zuko, however, was pacing so furiously that he was grinding a path into the sand. The sound of a horn startled her so badly that she fell forward onto her knees. Zuko pulled her onto her feet and kept his hand against her elbow as the marched towards the ship. Akari found she was torn between smacking him upside the head and taking his hand in hers.

Before she could pick between the two, they were swept into the ranks of soldiers marching to the vessel. The soldiers came together like a river, somehow forming organized rows even as more and more people flowed in. It took absolutely everything she had to march in the militia style. The only thing that kept her on track was staring at Zuko's feet in front of her. Higher ranking men stared stoically from the outskirts; inspecting them like birds of prey.

Soon their feet were stomping against the loading ramp and filling the air with the sound of metal rain. She could feel the pounding of the officer's gazes beating against her in time with the pulsing of her scar. Akari was not sure how much longer she could be part of this mindless organization. And suddenly they were filtered into the dark mar of the ship's belly.

The atmosphere inside was completely different. Zuko and Akari overflowed into a huge staff room full of soldiers. There were large overstuffed sofas, dozens of metal tables, posters of water tribe and earth kingdom leaders with darts poked into their foreheads, all drenched in dim lights.

A man was standing on a table, calling out half-hearted orders to the crowd. "Everyone, go to your posts!" The mass majority of the crowd dismissed his pleas, and instead shambled lazily in the general direction of one of the many exits.

Zuko pulled her in the direction of one of the exits, causing her to stumble. "Come on. The boiler room is the best place for us."

They were just about to leave when a beast-of-a-man stepped in front of Zuko. He seemed ready to lash out, but Akari pulled him back next to her—the gold fire insignia pin told her that this man was of high rank. He stood in front of them; his arms crossed and chin sticking out.

"Where are you two going?"

Zuko opened his mouth to answer, but for better or for worse, Akari beat him to it. "The boiler room."

The man eyed them suspiciously. "I thought we already had a man going down there."

Just then the ship creaked and groaned, a tremor rolling down its spine as if it was a giant beast awakening. Akari almost fell to the ground as the ship trembled. They had officially launched.

The man raised an eyebrow at her stumble, but Zuko spoke, "She hasn't gotten her sea legs yet." His gaze did not waver from the imposing figure before them. The more he spoke, the stronger his voice became. "We figured it would be best if she was out of the way, where she couldn't do any damage. Zhao would be very upset if something went wrong on such an important voyage."

He sounded so sure of himself, that Akari practically believed that was the truth.

His iron gaze bore into them for a while longer. "Carry on."

Zuko nodded and waited until the man sauntered off. Once he was gone, he grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her down various hallways. "Hurry up."

Akari was struggling to keep up, mainly being pulled forward by Zuko's hand. "How do you know where we are going?"

"I memorized a map."

"Of course," Akari muttered under her breath.

The boiler room was extremely hot and stuffy. Random plumes of steam would puff out from pipes that looked like giant whistles. Big things that looked like giant metal ovens glowed red. Looking up, Akari could see up into the other levels of the room, filled with similar machines. Akari decided to switch between hiding in a corner by an air vent, wandering around the room, and working her muscles. Zuko, however, had some kind of timeline to keep to. He quickly set to a routine. He would disappear for hours at a time, and then return with news from his uncle and other things he had picked up on.

While he was gone, her thoughts lingered on her experience about her parents from the other night. It consumed her. She found that she was no longer upset because her parents were dead. They had seemed so happy. But what still killed her was that it was all her fault. Nothing could change that fact. At times she wondered if it was real or all in her head. She decided that just because it was in her head, doesn't mean it wasn't real.

Her mind was so enveloped in her memories that she didn't realize Zuko was right in front of her position on the floor. When her mind snapped back to reality, he was on the balls of his feet, one of his hands on her knee. His lips seemed like they were about to speak her name, but they closed when he saw her staring back at him.

"What?" Akari asked.

"Errr…Nothing." However, Zuko stared at her with a peculiar look that was hard to place before leaning back against the wall across from her. He glanced back and forth before saying in a hushed tone, "I talked to my uncle. Apparently we will arrive at the North Pole tomorrow evening."

"And then we'll wing it from there?"

A tiny smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "That's always the plan, isn't it?"

Akari didn't answer, she just leaned her head back against the cool metal wall. Her muscles ached from walking around all day and her scar kept sending sharp jabs of pain throughout her body. Silence engulfed them as sleep began to ease over her body. Just as she was about to drift off, something possessed her to speak once more.

"When I almost drowned," she mumbled sleepily, "I had this…vision that I was in this infinite palace with a glass roof."

Zuko was eyeing her with a strange mix of interest and worry, but she was staring unseeingly at the space in front of her. "You had a vision you died?" His words were very slow and measured, as if he was speaking to a child.

Akari's head rolled back and forth, "No. I wasn't dead. It was something in between. But I don't think many people get to go to that palace—it was like the spirits were giving me a choice."

"Wait—you think you went to the Spirit World?"

That thought had never occurred to her, but she wasn't sure where she had gone—if she had even gone anywhere at all. "I don't know. But I saw my parents. I saw my dead parents, Zuko. And they looked so happy. They were all smiles and it seemed like it would've been so easy to just go over to them and take their hands. I wanted to. I wanted to go with them _so_ much."

Zuko crawled across the floor and sat next to her. He asked gently, "Why didn't you?"

Akari closed her eyes and smiled. She could almost feel the wind and hear its noises and hear his voice as it had been in that moment. "There was this wonderful and terrible wind. It was full of singing and laughter and tears and shouting. And in the back of my mind it reminded me of the freedom I had wanted for so long when I was stuck in the Fire Nation. It sounded like…like being alive."

After a moment Akari snapped back to reality, suddenly very conscious of what she was telling him. She turned her head to find Zuko was staring at her with his brow furrowed.

"But that wasn't what really made me chose the wind; that's not what really broke me. There was this voice that my mind recognized instantly, which really isn't surprising." Akari laughed a short, faint laugh. Still, Zuko studied her stoically. "All the voice said was my name, but that's all it took. After that there was never another moment of hesitation in my mind, because I knew there was no way I could run from that voice."

"Whose voice was it?"

Akari was very aware that her answer could affect him in a multitude of ways. She realized that she was putting herself out there. But wasn't that the point of her choice? Something had changed in that glass palace. No longer was she going to hide because she was afraid of the consequences. She chose everything about living—along with the good and bad that comes with it.

"Your voice."

He was quiet for a long time. It felt like an eternity and for a while Akari figured choosing death would have been better than the unending silence. She wanted to take his head and shake it while screaming at him to answer. But she knew that was how to get an argument out of him, not a response. Eventually sleep began to overtake her. Once her chin had touched her chest for the third time, she just left it there instead of jerking it back up.

Akari felt his arm wrap around her and pull her head into his shoulder. The rhythmic feeling of his shoulder making her head gently rise up and down with his breathing was quickly pulling her under the fuzzy blanket of sleep.

From the blurry edge of her consciousness, she could have sworn she heard him whisper furiously into her ear, "I am glad you are alive. I don't know if it was because I pulled you out of the water or because you heard me in the wind, but either way I am so happy that I was able to bring you back. I—"

Either he choked up or she finally fell asleep, because the low, melodic voice stopped speaking.

* * *

The next morning passed similarly. Akari didn't see Zuko once all morning—which both relieved and worried her. It wasn't until around noon that he flopped down on the ground next to her. He was just about to speak when suddenly there was the slightest shift in movement. It was just enough to make her weight jerk forward slightly and then let her fall backwards again.

Their eyes met. "The ship stopped," Akari spoke, almost disbelievingly.

Zuko grabbed her wrist and pulled her along after him. Between her stumbling feet, weak muscles, and his hand dragging her behind him, it was a miracle she was able to keep up. He wound his way through the passages as if he knew where he was going—which he probably did. They eventually came to rows upon rows up doors each one labeled "Boat Launcher" followed by a number. He ran all the way down to number 13 before sliding inside. There were only three walls. The fourth one was a gaping hole that opened out to sea with a small boat ready to be lowered off the side.

The view was absolutely breathtaking. Akari was so transfixed by it that she walked all the way to the edge. She probably would have walked off if Zuko hadn't grabbed her around the waist and kept her from continuing.

A giant wall of ice arced gracefully across the cove, but at the same time its presence was threatening. It reminded her of the wing of a protective mother bird, shielding her children from harm. Akari was tantalized by spires of ice buildings and glimpses of palaces of snow peeking out from behind the ice wall. And the snow, the snow was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen—excluding a certain young prince. She had heard descriptions of it in books and stories, but she could have never imagined it to be so gorgeous.

And that was when she noticed the black soot tainting the falling snow and clouding the skies. A giant crack filled the air and a ball of rock and flames smashed into the side of the wall. The graceful ice fortress crumpled like paper. Another flaming projectile toppled a spire of what Akari imagined to be a magnificent building. A metal claw gripped her heart at the sight. Yet in the mist of all the cracks, smoke, flames, sot, and heart wrenching terror, a large figure rose up into the air out of the city. The form came closer and closer in the thick, dark soot and eventually emerged as a giant bison with none other than the Avatar perched on his back.

A small sense of relief filled her. It was very, very short lived. She watched him attempt to bat back the ammunition back at the Fire Nation ships. A few sunk, but Akari knew it wasn't even enough to phase the attack. The grip around her waist tightened. When she tiled her head back just slightly, she could see Zuko completely immersed in watching the Avatar. His eyes were full of focus, passion, hope, determination, pain, and desperation. It absolutely terrified her.

The Avatar was finally forced to retreat, but Zuko continued to gaze longingly in the direction he disappeared. The silence was broken by a very pointed cough from Akari. Zuko staggered backwards, and released her waist.

"Uhh, r-right." Akari got vast amusement from watching him fumble over his words. Zuko strode over to a corner where a pile of grey garments lay. He tossed a pair towards her, which she barely managed to catch. "Put those on."

He turned his back to her and began to take off his own clothes, so Akari quickly turned and began to the same. The task took longer than she would have liked, but she was happy to find that her muscles were strong enough to do everything herself. Just as she finished pulling on her left glove, the door creaked open and Iroh stepped in.

"If you're fishing for an octopus, my nephew, you need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape." Akari looked just as confused as Zuko.

"I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle," Zuko protested softly as he stared out unto the city, his back towards Iroh.

"I'm sorry, I just nag you because, well, ever since I lost my son…" Iroh choked on his words, unable to continue, and tucked his chin into his chest.

"Uncle you don't have to say it," Zuko says, his own head bowed.

"I think of you as my own."

Iroh's statement was so profound and genuine. Akari could hardly begin to comprehend how much it meant to Zuko—let alone Iroh. Zuko turned to face his Uncle. His face was as soft and concerned as she had ever seen it. Akari's own heart ached with loneliness. He crossed his hand over his chest and bowed deeply to Iroh, full of respect.

"We'll meet again—" Zuko's words were cut off as Iroh engulfed him in a hug. Zuko gently removed himself. "After I have the Avatar."

Zuko stepped into the canoe and motioned for her to join him. Almost dejectedly, Akari started towards the vessel. Then Iroh caught her by the hand. His hand cupped her cheek and the other gripped her shoulder.

"Watch yourself little one, my heart can't stand losing you again." Tears gathered in his eyes, and Akari felt a knot grow in her throat. She quickly kissed his forehead and then got into the canoe and settled herself next to Zuko.

The prince nodded to his uncle and began to lower them down. The ropes creaked and the huge warship dwarfed the tiny vessel as it scaled down their side. The last thing she saw was Iroh's concerned gaze watching them as they disappeared from view.


End file.
